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FINAL WORLD EVENTS IN PROPHECY FORESHADOWED 2015
That prophecy is a part of God's revelation to man; that it is included in that Scripture which is profitable for instruction (2 Tim. 3:16); that it is designed for us and our children (Deut. 29:29); that so far from being enshrouded in impenetrable mystery, it is that which especially constitutes the word of God as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Ps. 119:105; 2 Peter 1:19); that a blessing is pronounced upon those who study it (Rev. 1:1-3); and that, consequently, it is to be understood by the people of God sufficiently to show them their position in the world's history and the special duties required at their hands. (1914 Yearbook, p. 293) THE SURE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY: "A Message Whose Time Has Come"
MAJOR ESCHATOLOGICAL PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE SPECIAL UPDATING REPORTS A MENACING CRISIS AND A VERY SIGNIFICANT PROPHETIC SIGN: DISTRESS OF NATIONS WITH PERPLEXITY - A Sign of the last remnant of time CONTINUING COVERAGE OF THE GEOLOGICAL AND CLIMATOLOGICAL SIGNS WHICH MULTIPLY - “the sea and the waves roaring” Luke 21:25; “Calamities, earthquakes, floods, disasters by land and by sea, will increase. . . ." - (R&H, December 11, 1900): Natural disasters and extreme weather The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System SPECIAL REPORTS SUBSIDIARITY: THE PRINCIPLE AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION A Major Path For Rome Among Many Converging through Jerusalem to Global Domination By Satan in Person - the Ultimate Antichrist (The Roman Catholic Social Doctrine - Ascendancy of the Roman Catholic dogma in the body politic of the United States.) The insight of A. T. Jones that needs to be kept in mind as Roman Catholic legislation proliferates throughout America - "The papacy is very impatient of any restraining bonds" more . . . Ellen G. White: "When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result." (GC 445.1) "When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and Republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near." (5T 451.) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6 We do not go deep enough in our search for truth. Every soul who believes present truth will be brought where he will be required to give a reason of the hope that is in him. The people of God will be called upon to stand before kings, princes, rulers, and great men of the earth, and they must know that they do know what is truth. (Review and Herald, February 18, 1890; TM 119) Spirit of Prophecy Policy on Family Planning (For full context cf. Adventists and Birth Control; Adventists and Birth Control (Concluded) A quotation to be kept in mind and applied to current events: "What the Jesuit Order is for the left wing of the Roman Catholic Church, Opus Dei is for its right wing. (Hegelian politics at its finest, for the Roman Catholic Church cannot lose if it has strong ties with both ends of the political spectrum!)" (From Opus Dei in the USA) Certain of the popular positions mentioned approvingly in some hyperlinked reports, essays, and blogs on this web page will of necessity cause reactions of strong disagreement, or at the very least discomfort, on the part of many readers. Regrettably, these positions cannot be separated from the core issues in the reports which prove the fulfillment of major end-times prophecies, and may of themselves be fulfillment of the prophecy of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Religious leaders in Palestine are calling for Pope Francis to make a new peace initiative to help quell violence in Jerusalem. This accords with the Papacy's ambitions. Perhaps the religious divisions are sufficiently bridged. How can they overcome the obstacles of Israeli government policies and Zionism, Jewish and Christian, which obstruct Rome's objective revealed in Dan.11:45?:- From [D]@gmail.com: Rabbi Rosen Proposes that Pope Francis Makes New Peace Initiative for Holy Land Rabbi David Rosen has proposed that Pope Francis should make another initiative for peace in the Holy Land, particularly given this great moment of tension where “we have the most acute and massive breakdown of trust, certainly over the course of the last 25 years.” He’s not made this proposal directly to the pope, but he has made it to the local Catholic leaders in the Holy Land “to communicate it to Rome.” He believes that if the pope could bring together “the religious representatives” of the different faiths and—most importantly—“coordinate this with the political leadership” on both sides, then “it could have a significant effect.” He also thinks that the Vatican should be “more proactive” in this field and says “the Catholic Church could do things with political consequences if it coordinated with political leaders.” . . . Note that Rabbi Rosen believes that the Pope "could bring together 'the religious representatives' of the different faiths and—most importantly—'coordinate this with the political leadership' on both sides." This a clear recognition that the papacy is not just a Church, but a religio-political institution. The world is already thoroughly conditioned by the spirits of Rev. 16:13-14 for the ultimate global union of Church and State, of which the Church of Rome is the epitome. She is destined according to Bible prophecy to sit at the pinnacle of the nations before ceding authority to her master Satan in the climactic battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 17:11-14 - note that this beast is not the papacy, but Satan himself (N.B. verses 7, 8 & 11.) Another religious leader in Palestine has added his voice to that of Rabbi Rosen in appealing to the Pope to exercise his power and influence to promote a final settlement of the more than 60- year-old conflict in Palestine; but the policies and actions of the Israeli government run counter to the desired end: In this exclusive interview on the eve of Christmas, Bishop William Shomali, the Palestinian-born auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, said he agrees with Rabbi David Rosen that Pope Francis should make a new initiative for peace as “the new vicious wave of violence” that started on Oct. 1 is sweeping through Jerusalem and the Holy Land causing more deaths, more hatred, more distrust and fear, as well as acts of retaliation between Israelis and Palestinians. He told me he fears the violence will escalate but hopes against hope for it to stop and for “serious negotiations” to begin with a view to a final settlement of the more than 60-year-old conflict. In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, he appeals to the Catholic Church throughout the world to take action for peace and to help the Christians in the Holy Land by coming on pilgrimage. . . Jerusalem Has Erupted In Violence. Here's Why It's Happening Now *Forty-seven Palestinians and 10 Israelis have been killed in the most recent wave of violence to rock the region. Since the beginning of the month, an uncoordinated series of stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks by young Palestinians has made violence a near-daily occurrence in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a “harsh offensive against Palestinian Islamic terrorism.” Of the 47 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces, only 26 have been identified by Israel as suspected attackers. . . Why now? The most immediate trigger for the violence is Palestinian fears that the Israeli government intends to unravel an unwritten status quo agreement that allows Jews to visit but not pray atop the Temple Mount -- a site of sacred importance to both Jews and Muslims. . . Members of Netanyahu’s coalition government have openly lobbied for an increased Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, who belongs to a pro-settler party in Israel, has called for the construction of the Third Temple at the site. When President Barack Obama joined Twitter in May, Ariel sent him a welcome tweet, vowing to “build all over the city” -- essentially mocking the American president’s efforts to halt settlement expansion in East Jerusalem.* Jerusalem Attacks Subside, but Not Palestinian Ire, as Israel Clamps Down Now, however, the violence has mostly faded from Jerusalem, and when attacks occur, the perpetrators are usually from the West Bank. The change seems to be a result of actions taken by Israeli officials, who have focused on reducing tensions surrounding the compound, the holiest site in Judaism and one of the holiest sites for Muslims, while instituting a series of security measures that Palestinians have denounced as collective punishment. “The message is that nothing and nobody is immune,” said Rafik Husseini, director of the Maqassed Hospital, one of the last Palestinian institutions remaining in East Jerusalem. . . Quelling the uprising in East Jerusalem was particularly important for Israeli officials, who claim the city as their eternal, undivided capital, and who have sought to project an image of business as usual in the city. For Israel, violence by Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem is particularly troubling, because they may freely move about the West Bank and in Israel, in contrast to Palestinians in the West Bank, who need permits to enter Israeli-controlled areas. Yet, in throwing up new obstacles and checkpoints around East Jerusalem — 38 during the peak of the uprising, the United Nations counted — Israel’s security measures tended to underscore the divisions in Jerusalem. Palestinians say the new measures are only increasing the anger and alienation of East Jerusalem’s Arabs, which could fuel further attacks. It is clearly extremely difficult for the papal objective for Jerusalem to be achieved. Apart from the revelation of prophecy, that difficulty may seem close to impossibility. It will not be the first time that this has occurred in the history of the papacy. Rev. 13:3 predicted that it would suffer a deadly wound, which would be healed. The scoffer might have said of the apparent destruction of the papacy in 1798 that as far as the prophecy was concerned this was a mere coincidence. With the healing of the deadly wound only those who are willingly ignorant (2 Peter 3:5) of the prophecy and its fulfillment can fail to see that "we have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto [we] do well that [we] take heed . . ." (2 Peter 1:19.) The fulfillment of Dan. 11:45 is made more sure by the evidence of the past fulfillment of prophecies, and in the present context Rev. 13:3 specifically. Pope Francis has declared that military action against ISIS is a "just war." He has an additional way of working against the threat that ISIS will disrupt Rome's objective of world domination - expediting the movement towards the global unity of Christian churches and other religions:- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis Fights ISIS by Fostering Interreligious Dialogue The highlight of Pope Francis' journey in Africa was, on Nov. 30, his morning visit to a mosque in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, where Christian and Muslim militias have been fighting each other over nearly the past three years. His presence in the besieged, dangerous PK5 district was meant to show that the bounds of brotherhood between communities remain possible despite all the bloodshed. "Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters. We must therefore consider ourselves and conduct ourselves as such," he clearly stated in his speech inside the mosque. "Christians, Muslims and members of the traditional religions have lived together in peace for many years," he said, calling to mind, "the many acts of solidarity which Christians and Muslims have shown with regard to their fellow citizens of other religious confessions." Tidiani Moussa Naibi, the imam of the mosque welcoming the pope, expressed the same attitude and commitment in his welcoming address. . . After the speeches, Francis asked the imam to show him where the mihrab was, as it indicates in a mosque the direction of Mecca, towards which Muslims pray. Both of them stood in front of it and prayed there, side by side in silence. The pope later explained to the press he had also invited the imam on board his pope mobile to tour together. The day just before the visit, in the cathedral of Bangui, the head of the Catholic Church made another symbolic gesture of sympathy towards the Muslim community. He stepped down from the altar during mass to give peace to another imam, Oumar Kobine Layama, who was standing in the front row. This imam, along with the Catholic archbishop of Bangui, Mgr. Dieudonné Nzapalainga, and an Evangelical pastor, Nicolas Guerekoyame-Gbangou, all stood together to try to downplay the hatred between communities and bring them back together. . . Interreligious dialogue is key in this pontificate. Just a year before praying in the main mosque of Bangui, the pope did just the same in Istanbul, at Sultan Ahmet Mosque. His journeys to Jerusalem, Albania, Sri Lanka and later to Bosnia were all meant to convey that pacifist coexistence in multicultural societies remains possible through deep interreligious dialogue. . . This long-term work will not as such impress ISIS, of course. As the pope's top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, confirmed in an interview granted to the French daily La Croix after the Paris attacks: "It is licit to stop the unjust aggressor." But Cardinal Parolin also says disarming by means of military intervention is not enough. In the long run, it also requires a "global spiritual mobilization." Bangui as the world's spiritual capital This is precisely why Francis fosters interreligious collaboration: to prevent religious fundamentalism. "All too often, young people are being radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear and to tear at the very fabric of our societies," he warned in Nairobi, Kenya, at the beginning of his African tour. Addressing a variety of religious leaders, he said, "How important it is that we be seen as prophets of peace, peacemakers who invite others to live in peace, harmony and mutual respect! Interreligious dialogue is not something extra or optional but essential, something which our world, wounded by conflict and division, increasingly needs." Francis declared that Bangui was, for the day, the "spiritual capital of the world." He believes that the interreligious cooperation happening in the city can prevail over the religious divisions. He wants it to set an example for the world. The spirits of Rev. 16:13-14 are engaged in unifying the world. Paradoxically, ISIS must also be inspired by evil spirits. Are Satan's legions divided? Perhaps they are; but consideration should also be given to the diabolical logic of driving the world together through fear of the minority who foster and practice terrorism. Thus ISIS accelerates rather than retards global unification. (Cf. Muslim and Christian Religious Leaders Unite to Denounce ISIS; Diplomacy and Religion Seeking Common Interests and Engagement in a Dynamically Changing and Turbulent World. In the movement towards global unity, there are prophetic signs large and small of the approaching climax of earth's history. It is natural to focus on large prophetic events, but there are also large implications in some of the small signs. The Salvation Army is a relatively small and insignificant (yet well-known) denomination, with a membership of over 1.5 million in 127 countries, compared with 18,479,257 Seventh-day Adventists and 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide. However, the Salvation Army is an international organization. It is allied with the United Nations; and advocates for "social justice" in remarkable alignment with the papacy of Pope Francis: About the International Social Justice Commission [ISJC] We listen to the experience of The Salvation Army working in 127 countries and seek to represent their voices at the United Nations (New York, Vienna, Geneva, Nairobi) and other global forums such as the World Bank. We research and develop expertise on relevant global issues in light of our Christian faith. . . [We do it] to promote a vision of justice based on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. To advocate and advise on social, economic, political issues and events which lead to the perpetuation of injustice in the world. To amplify the voices of poor, marginalized and oppressed people and translate their real life insights into policies, practices and life-giving opportunities. "This is a time when we, as a matter of utmost urgency and highest priority, should be seeking to address the needs of the poorest people living in 'extreme poverty.' Now note what the ISJC states about Christianity and climate change: Under the heading "What does the Lord require of you" - The call to climate justice is deeply rooted in biblically based Christian convictions. The scriptures provide a wealth of reasons why Christ followers simply cannot ignore this crisis. The following points are drawn from the Evangelical Climate Initiative, a group of senior evangelical leaders in the United States who are convinced it is time to seriously address the problem of global warming. (Read the succeeding paragraphs under this heading.) Under the heading "What WE, the church, can do" - Beyond our lives as individuals, we the church are also called to communal action for climate justice. Here are some ways . . . One paragraph in particular stands out for Seventh-day Adventist eschatology - Keep the Sabbath: It could be the most radical thing a church can do for environmental stewardship—to commit to keeping the Sabbath. The scriptures make constant reference to rest and care for the land as well as for people on the Sabbath. Spending time with family and friends and enjoying the free outdoors is an act of resistance to the pressures of materialism and consumerism. Roman Catholic dogma aside, one can find little daylight between the ISJC's position and that enunciated by Pope Francis in the encyclical Laudato Si. The most important thing to note is that the ISJC and Rome are speaking in international terms. No National Sunday law here; but an international observance of the false Sunday sabbath. Could the social injustice of climate change be a basis for the future international unity in enforcing Sunday observance? Israel has long been a special focus of the UN's attention, as it is of the whole world. This will continue to the end of time as foretold by the Word of Prophecy:- From [D]@gmail.com: UN Adopts 6 Resolutions On Israel In One Day, Zero On Rest Of World The UN General Assembly adopted six resolutions against Israel in a single day on Tuesday, the NGO UN Watch reported, including a resolution calling for the return of the Golan Heights – together with its current inhabitants –to Syria. No resolutions were passed condemning China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, ISIS, or any other country that regularly violates human rights. “Surreal barely captures the scene whereby the world is under assault by terrorists killing in the name of Islam and martyrhood — as Palestinians are doing while stabbing Israeli Jews — and the UN’s response is to reflexively condemn Israel in six separate resolutions, all of which are one-sided,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. The resolutions, which are non-binding and drafted by the Palestinians and Syria, called – among other things – for Israel to end its so-called occupation and cease implementing Israeli law in Jerusalem. (Cf. Breitbart News Network: Born In The USA, Conceived In Israel; How Weird Christian Right Beliefs Impact America) (Cf. Danon to Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon: Root out hypocrisy towards Israel at UN; Israel eyeing better UN Security Council for 2016) The United Nations General Assembly: Prejudice without Pride The UN General Assembly has the tiresome habit of almost always being wrong. No one expected the 193-member international organization to be the pinnacle of political wisdom, but few had thought it would become base clay. It showed its habitual lack of balance and its persistent prejudice once again on November 19, 2015 when it passed six Resolutions on the Middle East, none of which addressed the real outstanding problems, Islamist terrorism, the continuing advance of ISIS, or the ongoing slaughter in the civil war in Syria. It was left to the Russian delegate, Vladimir K. Safronkov, who spoke of the chaos in the Middle East, of ISIS and the terrorist group al-Nusra fighting for territory and expanding their terrorist activities. Instead, there were the customary repetitive resolutions with only one objective, criticism or condemnation of Israel. Rather than forwarding the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the resolutions make it virtually impossible because of the one sided hostility against Israel. . . (Cf. About Us - American Thinker) Unquestionably, there is strong bias against Israel among the nations of the UN. This is consistent with Bible prophecy, given Israel's intransigence on control of an undivided Jerusalem, and her expropriation of Palestinian land. According to prophecy, the papacy is destined to establish a presence in Jerusalem; and historically the Vatican has been working consistently to achieve that goal. Furthermore, these are the times when the prophecy of Rev. 16:13-14 is manifestly being fulfilled. It is inevitable that the nations will be hostile to Israel so long as she stands as an obstacle in the way of the papal prelude to the ultimate "battle of that great day of God Almighty," which is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isa. 14:13. How will the way be opened? It might be by a voluntary settlement with Israel, or by pressure from the nations,. Time will tell. Ben Carson provides a rich lode of evidence that he is wholly immersed in the delusional fables of the False Prophet. How many Seventh-day Adventists is he carrying with him into ultimate oblivion? (Rev. 19:20.) In 2 Tim. 4:3-4 the Apostle Paul predicted: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they draw to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Among cross referenced texts are the following: Isaiah 30:10 (RSV) Who say to the seers, “See not”; and to the prophets, “Prophesy not to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
Both of these texts are particularly applicable to
these times when the light of true prophecy has
It transpires that Ben Carson has not plucked his "belief" that the pyramids of Egypt were built by Joseph as granaries out of thin air. The problem is that his sources (though not identified by him) are all fables tracing all the way back to the early Christian era. These fables have been embraced in the Evangelical world, and Carson is one of them! Note that these are the people who were duped into taking over the Republican party and opening the door to domination of party and nation by the Church of Rome - forming the Image to the Beast. (Note that use of the following articles does not constitute endorsement of any hint of doubt about the historical record of the Bible):- The Long, Strange History of the Pyramids as the Granaries of Joseph The most concerning part of this anti-science debacle is Carson’s assertion that claims about ancient history are merely “personal beliefs” that should not be evaluated against facts. When asked directly if he was specifically claiming that the pyramids were literally built under the direction of Joseph and were used to store grain, Carson replied, “It’s a plausible belief […] because I believe in the Bible.” But facts aren’t “beliefs,” and it’s disturbing that Carson feels that he can use “belief” as a magic wand to avoid having to support his feelings with facts. . . But the second part of his defense was also upsetting because he cast his “belief” as existing in opposition to “secular progressives,” as though Christians would uniformly accept a crackpot version of ancient history—or the Bible. The fact of the matter is that the claim doesn’t appear in the Bible at all. The story of Joseph and Pharaoh is told in Genesis 41, where Joseph tells Pharaoh that a prophetic dream foretells seven years of famine. In Genesis 41:48, we read that Joseph collected grain in each Egyptian city as insurance against the famine, and in Genesis 41:56 we read that this grain was kept in storehouses. If we read this literally, it would seem that there was a storehouse in each city, so even if you believe literally in Genesis, these storehouses cannot be the pyramids. That did not stop people from speculating about them, however. Here is where things start to get complicated. According to some sources, the monk Rufinus reported in the second of two books he added to his translation of Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History that pyramids were shown as Joseph’s granaries in his day, c. 410 CE, but this passage doesn’t appear in modern editions, for reasons unknown to me. (The closest source I can find is a sixteenth century hagiography.) In St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, there is a series of murals made in 1204 that depict scenes from Genesis. Because many of these match closely to images in the illustrated Cotton Genesis, a copy of the Book of Genesis made in the fifth century CE, it’s assumed that the remaining murals reflect pages missing from the incomplete Cotton Genesis. One of these shows Joseph’s granaries as the Pyramids of Egypt, with holes at their peaks for pouring in grain. If this assumption is correct, then the Cotton Genesis would be the oldest identification of the pyramids with the granaries of Joseph. . . Julius Honorius, a Roman writer of Late Antiquity (c. 500 +/- 50 years), was apparently the first to describe the pyramids as Joseph’s granaries, in his Cosmographia, in which he says that the pyramids “are called the storehouses of Joseph,” but without elaboration. . . I guess we’re experiencing another outbreak of medievalism, but we can take heart that if it is true tha[t] the story was inspired by Jews and early Christians trying to syncretize their faiths with the glory of grain-giving Serapis in the Roman era of Egypt, then there is some irony in the pagan origin of Carson’s Christian extremist beliefs. Did Joseph Build the Great Pyramid at Gizeh? Dr. Ben Carson has made lots of controversial headlines this week with his assertion, that turns out to be quite common in certain Adventist/Fundamentalist Christian circles, that the biblical Joseph in fact built the Great Pyramid of Cheops–the one that appears on the back of our U.S. dollar bill as the “Great Seal” of our nation. Although this assertion comes as a shock to the press and is repudiated by all Egyptologists, it has some broader background that is worth exploring–see Ana Marie Cox’s very intelligent post in the Daily Beast here. I remember hearing this theory here and there in Christian evangelical circles growing up in the 1960s as a teenager. The assertion that Joseph was the engineering genius (with God’s help of course!) behind the mysterious construction of the oldest pyramids–and that they were used for grain storage, is still floating around after 50 years, see the purported evidence here. The late Dr. Herman Hoeh, self-educated “historian” and biblical scholar, wrote an article in the Plain Truth magazine in 1964 titled “Who Built the Great Pyramid?” that is available on-line here. He asserts that not only Joseph was involved, but the biblical figure of “Job” was in fact Cheops, the non-Egyptian king who ruled Egypt in the 18th century BCE. If you read through Dr. Hoeh’s article you can see how naive readers would be taken in by his presumed knowledge of history while all mainstream historians and archaeologists, lacking biblical faith, are thus deluded and can’t see the truth. This is the “closed” scientific world that Dr. Carson and millions of fundamentalist Christians live in and within that bubble everything makes sense. . . It is hoped that the "millions of fundamentalist Christians" do not include too many Seventh-day Adventists. Pope Francis, the "man of peace," has made a startling, indeed dramatic, statement about the terrorist attack in Paris, France, on Friday, November 13, 2015:- Pope Francis warns on 'piecemeal World War III' A "piecemeal" World War III may have already begun with the current spate of crimes, massacres and destruction, Pope Francis has warned. . . The Argentine Pope has often condemned the idea of war in God's name. In Saturday's homily, standing at the altar beneath Italy's fascist-era Redipuglia memorial - where 100,000 Italian soldiers killed during WWI are buried, 60,000 of them unnamed, the Pope paid tribute to the victims of all wars. "Humanity needs to weep, and this is the time to weep," he said. Only last month, Pope Francis said the international community would be justified in using force to stop what he called "unjust aggression" by Islamic State militants, who have killed or displaced thousands of people in Iraq and Syria, including many Christians, the BBC's David Willey reports. "Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction," he said. Pope Francis calls Paris attacks piece of a ‘piecemeal World War III’ Pope Francis lamented a string of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday night, calling them a “piece” of a “piecemeal World War III.” “I am close to the people of France, to the families of the victims, and I am praying for all of them,” the pontiff said Saturday, according to the Vatican Radio. “I am moved, and I am saddened. I do not understand — these things hard to understand.” . . . “Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction,” he said. He called the attacks “inhumane” saying, “There is no religious or human justification” for the violence. French President Francoise Hollande on Saturday blamed the Islamic State terrorist group for the attacks that left 127 dead and scores injured. He called the wave of bombing and shooting attacks in and around Paris an “act of war committed by a terrorist arm, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: A free country that means something to the whole planet.” By any measure, the terrorist aggression in Paris on Friday is a significant end time event. One of the attackers is even reported to have shouted, "We are stronger than France," (cf. Joel 3:10.) Given the explicit declaration of President Hollande that the terrorist attack was an act of war, followed by the Pope's extraordinary statement, and the possibility that the NATO pact may be invoked, the question arises whether closer attention should be paid to the prophecies of Dan. 11:40-44. These prophecies are extremely difficult to interpret; but there is clear biblical exegesis identifying the parties involved as the papacy and the nations occupying the former territories of the Seleucid Empire and Egypt respectively. The Holy See has no armed forces; but there are nations so closely identified with this religio-political power that warfare by or against them may be representative of a papacy on the attack or under attack (cf. Why Pope Francis supports limited action against Islamic State; Pope Francis: US Action against ISIS a 'Just War'; Pope warns refugees bring ISIS threat: "ISIS has issued death threats against those in Rome and vowed to raise the group’s signature black flag above St. Peter’s Basilica.") There has been so much real movement towards fulfillment of Dan. 11:45, that it stretches credulity to think that verses 40-44 are not beginning to be/will not be fulfilled. The winds of change have been blowing in the Seventh-day Adventist Church for over five decades, with increased velocity in recent years, all in the wrong direction. Writing about the first great apostasy, Ellen G. White stated: What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart from the simplicity of the gospel?—By conforming to the practices of paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen. The apostle Paul declared, even in his day, “The mystery of iniquity doth already work.” [2 Thessalonians 2:7.] During the lives of the apostles the church remained comparatively pure. “But toward the latter end of the second century most of the churches assumed a new form, the first simplicity disappeared; and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts ... came forward and new-modeled the cause.” [Robinson, in History of Baptism.] (Great Controversy, Pp.384-385) She wrote about another great apostasy - in the Seventh-day Adventist Church!: One thing it is certain is soon to be realized,—the great apostasy, which is developing and increasing and waxing stronger, and will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout. We are to hold fast the first principles of our denominated faith, and go forward from strength to increased faith. The New York Indicator, February 7, 1906. Another statement by Mrs. White outlined a process of apostasy which has been fulfilled to the letter: The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure. Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth? I hesitated and delayed about the sending out of that which the Spirit of the Lord impelled me to write. I did not want to be compelled to present the misleading influence of these sophistries. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met. An Iceberg! “Meet It” (Selected Messages, Book 1, Pp. 204-205) Ellen G. White also wrote this statement: And because the Spirit is to come, not to praise men or to build up their erroneous theories, but to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, many turn away from it. They are not willing to be deprived of the garments of their own self-righteousness. They are not willing to exchange their own righteousness, which is unrighteousness, for the righteousness of Christ, which is pure, unadulterated truth. (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, P. 65) All of these statements have a bearing on the spiritual condition of the contemporary Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is borne out by the astonishing news reports and articles that appear regularly in the official church paper, the Adventist Review:- From [D]@google.com; With the enormous media coverage about Seventh-day Adventists occasioned by the public comments of Donald Trump and Ben Carson this week, Adventists in North America find themselves in a unique position. While delighted with positive news coverage about a handful of distinctive beliefs (read more here) and the benefits of a healthy Adventist lifestyle, many Adventists have realized that this movement needs to be known for more than these. None of us can know for certain what God’s purposes are in allowing public attention on this movement at this moment, but we can be certain that He ultimately wants this faith community to be known and embraced for more than longevity and our impressive healthcare system. This moment could be Adventism’s “breakthrough” moment—if we are prepared to seize the opportunity. I’d like to propose that our unique understanding of the Great Controversy—specifically the story of the sacrifice of Christ at the heart of the “everlasting gospel”—is the reality for which we really should be known. . . This good news is offered to all who respond to His love today—Seventh-day Adventists and Presbyterians, Methodists and Roman Catholics, Buddhists and Hindus—well, you get the picture. At a moment when our culture is decidedly curious about Seventh-day Adventists, shouldn’t we be known for candidly describing the reality of the human condition—and the amazing reality of Christ’s reconciling love? Shouldn’t this be a “distinctive” for which we are also famous? Is the preaching of Jesus Christ's reconciling love really the uniqueness of Seventh-day Adventism? Is this the only denomination professing to proclaim the reconciling love of Jesus. Is the Roman Catholic Church not prominent in teaching universal love, regardless of differences between denominations and religions; which nevertheless are all opposed to the God of heaven and His Truth? Ellen G. White stated in crystal clear terms the primary mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which sets it apart from all other Christian denominations: In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. . . . They have been given a work of the most solemn import--the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention. The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given to us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God's people are to be true to the trust committed to them (9T 19). . . The third angel's message must do its work of separating from the churches a people who will take their stand on the platform of eternal truth." It is a "life-and-death message (6T 61). The Lord has been pleased to give His people the third angel's message as a testing message to bear to the world. John beholds a people distinct and separate from the world, who refuse to worship the beast or his image, who bear God's sign, keeping holy His Sabbath-the seventh day. . . . Of them the apostle writes, 'Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus' [Rev. 14:12] (Ev 233; underscored emphasis added) What more can be said to reveal the depth of apostasy that has destroyed the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church! Ben Carson is bad news for true Seventh-day Adventism - period! He is giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the Three Angels' Messages, and his presence in the spotlight increases the difficulty that already exists for those whose purpose is to propagate Truth, pure and unadulterated. What are non-Adventists to think about Seventh-day Adventism as represented by Ben Carson AND the contemporary corporate body? Are they more likely to believe the Adventist leadership and their loyal followers, or those who try to explain the true Seventh-day Adventist movement? These faithful Seventh-day Adventists were once referred to by the leadership as a "lunatic fringe." Those who comprise this "lunatic fringe" are the true representatives of the unique Seventh-day Adventist message and the Gospel of Adventism. A sign of the times! An Adventist Today news item is a demonstration of the destructive influence of what is called "Progressive Adventism" within the Seventh-day Adventist Church These "progressive," or "liberal," Adventists are a faction within the Church body which has adopted as a credo the term "progressive." On close examination progressivism (not in its political sense,) should have been adopted by the Church body, and more recently the Independent Ministries, as a guiding principle for exactly the opposite purpose to that of the "Progressives." Ellen G. White wrote: The Lord has made his people the repository of sacred truth. Upon every individual who has had the light of present truth devolves the duty of developing that truth on a higher scale than it has hitherto been done." (HM, July 1, 1897.) We must not think, "Well, we have all the truth, we understand the main pillars of our faith, and we may rest on this knowledge." The truth is an advancing truth, and we must walk in the increasing light." (R&H, March 25, 1890.) (Underscored emphasis added.) On the basis of these statements, the foundational Truth must always be at the core of progress. This is what it means to be walking "in the increasing light" of advancing Truth from the throne of God. Developing "that truth on a higher scale than it has hitherto been done" never involves abandoning or destroying the Truth, which has been the work of the "Progressives." The Seventh-day Adventist Church inherited fundamental Truths from the Protestant Reformation, and received from God the special light of the Three Angels' Messages, at the heart of which is the Sanctuary Doctrine. Among the Truths inherited from Protestant Reformation was the identification of the Little Horn of Daniel 7, the "man of sin" of 2 Thess. 2:3 et seq., and the first beast of Rev. 13, as the papacy. The papacy has always cast a dark shadow over all of the fundamental doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Recognition of this fact has been repudiated by the leadership of the Church, strongly aided by factions such as the "Progressives"/"Liberals." Even so, what amounts to a naked demand for obeisance to the Pope is astonishing, and suggests remarkable confidence that the Church body as a whole is neutralized as a primary opponent of the papacy. The opening explanatory statement added after first publication was disingenuous in suggesting that "there is a tongue-in-cheek element to this column expressing an opinion." Readers' comments were cut off. Incredibly, the Publisher appears to have been taken aback by the backlash from the laity:- A Proposed Letter of Apology to Pope Francis from the GC President Readers of the Adventist Today web site and anyone living in Philadelphia who listens to or reads local media in or around that city may be aware of the recent mass mailing of a book, The Great Controversy, to 700,000 individuals living in that city or surrounding area. The mailing was intended to be coincident with a visit to Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love,” by the current Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis. As readers of Adventist Today will know, The Great Controversy is a 19th-century work based on an extensive editing of materials originally produced by and under the name of a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, Ellen Gould Harmon-White (1837-1915). Like a wide cross section of many other evangelical and later fundamentalist Protestant authors belonging to a wide range of conservative Protestant churches in 19th- and early 20th-century America, White was very critical of the theology and history of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe. Obviously, the heritage she reflected went back centuries, based on the long-standing, intense hostility that existed between Protestants and Catholics beginning at the time of the Reformation and continuing down into the late 19th century in many countries in Europe before being transplanted across the Atlantic to the United States. A regrettable part of that heritage was the continued affirmation of conspiracy scenarios concerning alleged attempts of Roman Catholics to establish some sort of political advantage, usually by some nefarious means in America. Anti-Catholic hostility was exacerbated during the 19th century because of the competition for employment with native-born Anglo-Saxon Americans due to the large influx of immigrants from Catholic countries in Europe, especially Ireland. It even had a 19th-century political expression in America with the formation of the anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant, anti-Jewish “Know-Nothing” political movement. We can be encouraged that the organization which was responsible for the mailing of the Great Controversy volume was not the official Seventh-day Adventist Church. The organization was Remnant Publications, based in Michigan. However, the message that this mailing was clearly intended to communicate is an anti-Catholic message and the source of that message emanates from a part of the Adventist tradition. In light of this action on the part of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, it is here proposed that the President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church send the following letter or some version of it to the Pope asking for his understanding and forgiveness. Here is a draft of the text of such a letter that would be written on the stationery of the General Conference of SDAs His Holiness, Pope Francis Apostolic Palace 00120 Vatican City Your Holiness: It is recently come to my attention that certain misguided members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United States have distributed a book, written by the co-founder of this Christian denomination, to many individuals living in the city of Philadelphia, prior to your upcoming visit to that city. That book is entitled The Great Controversy. That volume was written in the 19th century at a time in the history of the United Sites when the relationship between Protestant and Catholic Christians was much less than ideal. Unfortunately, that book reflected various very regrettable negative aspects of that relationship. A predecessor of mine has noted that the anti-Catholic views that this book endorses have been “relegated to the ash heap of history” by current Adventist leaders and lay persons. I currently hold the position of president of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and in that capacity I am writing to you to extend the apologies from a leader of one group of Christians to another, asking for your understanding and forgiveness for the unfortunate actions of a small number of members of the Christian faith tradition which I represent. At a time when all Christians of good will should be seeking to come together to solve the serious problems facing our world, the actions of a few should not be allowed to confuse and disrupt that cooperation. It is in the spirit of that concern that this letter is being sent to you. Please accept this apology in the name of all members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who wish you and the church you represent the blessings of God. Very Respectfully, Ted N.C. Wilson The hard-edged tone of the article, the repudiation of fundamental Protestant prophetic interpretation, the vicious assault on the Messenger of the Lord and the gift of prophecy in the early Seventh-day Adventist Church - all betray a mind foreign to historic Adventism. This is worthy of a Jesuit! Astonishingly, there has been no hint of a public reprimand from the Church leadership for either the brazen heresies of this publication or the embarrassing disrespect shown to the General Conference President. Ellen G. White wrote, "One thing it is certain is soon to be realized,—the great apostasy, which is developing and increasing and waxing stronger, and will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout." The New York Indicator, February 7, 1906. Can anyone doubt that the contemporary Seventh-day Adventist Church is fulfilling this prophecy "on steroids" in its relationship with the Roman Catholic Church? Consider the progression from a medallion given to the Pope by B. B. Beach and the following statement in 1975: Although it is true that there was a period in the life of the Seventh-day Adventist Church when the denomination took a distinctly anti-Roman Catholic viewpoint, and the term "hierarchy" was used in a pejorative sense to refer to the papal form of church governance, that attitude on the Church's part was nothing more than the manifestation of widespread anti-popery among conservative protestant denominations in the early part of this century and the latter part of the last, and which has now been consigned to the historical trash heap so far as the Seventh-day Adventist Church is concerned. (From EEOC vs. PPPA (1975 Reply Brief for SDA Defendants in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment.) This was a major landmark in a process of Romanization of the Seventh-day Adventist Chuirch; but it was not the beginning. The present generation of Seventh-day Adventists, starved of instruction in righteousness, is probably not aware of an early manifestation of the process which occurred in 1949 when there was a revision on the Incarnation in the chapter titled "A Sinless Life." Another indirect but major manifestation occurred in 1967 when the Church opened a relationship with the World Council of Churches which led to the appointment of a representative to the organization's Faith and Order Commission. [From the hyperlinked bookmark, read through to "the full Constitutional statement of the WCC which is required for membership in that organization."] There have been other major developments; and harlotry displayed and on the rampage all along the way. [Note the Adventist Review articles that are no longer accessible from the hyperlinks. Special requests, with reason stated, must now be made. The publishers are obviously uncomfortable with collections being used to state the case against a harlot Church. Nevertheless, the titles of the articles are revealing enough.] The apostasy has increased to such a level that the Third Angel's Message is no longer a mission of the corporate body of Seventh-day Adventists. The publication under examination is an outrageous manifestation of the complete repudiation of the Message. Even some of those who profess to hold to the historic recognition of the papacy as the Antichrist go on to exempt Pope Francis and declare that the identity of the "apocalyptic Antichrist" is not known. On Sabbath School Net a posting on the Sabbath School Lessons for the fourth quarter of 2015 contains the following blog posting by an SDA pastor: Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Sharing Prophecy The last few weeks have been pretty intense in the religio-political world. The arrival of Pope Francis in America has elicited all kinds of responses. For some, he is a breath of fresh air. For others, he is no different from any other pope apart from his “terrific PR”. Regardless of which position you may take, one thing is certain – Pope Francis is a historic pope. He is the first Latin-American pope and the first Jesuit pope. In addition “[h]is tour [in America] marked several firsts for the papacy: Francis was the first pope to address a joint sitting of US Congress. He also [conducted the]… first canonization to occur on US soil.” And if that weren’t enough, Christianity Today recently published an article titled “From Antichrist to Brother in Christ: How Protestant Pastors View the Pope” which reveals the results of a Life Way Research project which discovered that “[m]ore than half of evangelical pastors say Pope Francis is their brother in Christ.” This is a long shot from Luther, the father of Protestantism, who emphatically declared “I am entirely of the opinion that the papacy is the Antichrist.” . . . Examples of hateful rhetoric can include articles and memes insulting the Pope with phrases such as “Marxist,” “idolater,” “blasphemer,” or “man of sin.” Now some may argue “but that’s what the Bible calls him!” To which I would say, No. That’s what we call him while borrowing Scripture’s language. Truth is, we don’t know who the apocalyptic Antichrist is. While I share the conviction that the Antichrist is certainly the papacy, that does not automatically mean that a particular pope is the Antichrist. But even if Francis were the ultimate embodiment of the Antichrist, what have we accomplished by promulgating this? Calling someone “Antichrist” outside of Revelation’s narrative does nothing but offend those who do not share our world view. Letting people know who the Antichrist is is not about slapping Antichrist on a picture of Francis and sharing it all over social media. It’s about inviting people into the story of Daniel and Revelation and lovingly helping them to see the entire tale unfold – a tale which has Jesus, not the Pope, as its central theme. . . In summary, I wholeheartedly embrace the Reformers’ historicist interpretation of Daniel and Revelation. I am all for giving the warning. I am all for preaching final events. But it can never be done via false accusations, hateful rhetoric, or a continual thirst for more anti-papacy discourses which leave the avenues of our souls wide open to the dangers of apocalyptic paranoia. When discussing Revelations narrative we must remember that it is the “Revelation of Jesus,” that our words should always be seasoned with salt, that we are never to bear false witness, and that if there is one thing that we should thirst for more and more it is Jesus and Jesus only. Psalm 42:1 says “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” May this prayer be ours. Those who share the apocalyptic consciousness that Luther and the reformers proclaimed continue to view the papacy (not necessarily the pope) as the Antichrist. (Footnote links deleted.) This "Pastor" claims to be a historicist (using the Grammatical-Historical or Proof Text hermeneutic.) His conclusions give the lie to that claim. The sacrilegious drivel of this "Pastor" makes a mockery of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:" His concept of the Jesus Christ of the Book of Revelation is a desecration of this last critically important Book of prophecy in the Bible! As to Pope Francis, we must ignore his blasphemous titles (Vicar of Christ, Pontifex Maximus (hyperlink to unique analysis drawn from Rome's Latin Vulgate, exposing the measure of iniquity in this title,) etc,) the gross blasphemy of the Eucharist which he extols, his corruption of the Scriptures, and his propagation of pagan philosophy and pantheism??!! He is a brother in Christ??!! - WHICH CHRIST?? Viewing a Church Romanized to a degree unimaginable six decades ago (with probably more to come) expands one's understanding of this prophecy of Ellen G. White: Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus "Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together. . . Our own course of action will determine whether we shall receive the seal of the living God or be cut down by the destroying weapons. Already a few drops of God's wrath have fallen upon the earth; but when the seven last plagues shall be poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation, then it will be forever too late to repent and find shelter. No atoning blood will then wash away the stains of sin. (5T:211-212) One can feel no sympathy for "These dumb dogs that would not bark;" but one might feel a little sympathy for the decision makers of the family household corporations, who were influenced by them and blindly followed their soothing and deceptive words. One's heart bleeds for the "maidens, and little children" who will perish because of the corporate identity of the family. (Cf. The God of the Old Testament; The God of the New Testament.) Ben Carson's trumpeting of the claim that he is a Seventh-day Adventist, but proving by his conduct and words that he is a renegade, slanders the FUNDAMENTAL basis of the Advent movement: The Firm Foundation of Our Faith Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. . . Elder [Hiram] Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. Again and again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power. This makes the Seventh-day Adventist movement one with a unique mission. This deluded man, Ben Carson disagrees: 5 faith facts about Ben Carson: retired neurosurgeon, Seventh-day Adventist Carson has served as an Adventist local elder and Sabbath school teacher. But he attends other churches. “I spend just as much time in non-Seventh-day Adventist churches because I’m not convinced that the denomination is the most important thing,” he told RNS in 1999. “I think it’s the relationship with God that’s most important.” Just an elemental knowledge of the Bible and the history of Christianity proves this to be a monumental lie! There is the true God (John 17:3;) and there is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4,) and the god of this world has labored with ferocious intensity to corrupt the Christian faith and destroy the Truth of God revealed in the Bible. He has succeeded among the organized churches; but a remnant remains, the seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. All churches are not equal, and they could never be since the fulfillment of the following prophecies of the Apostle Paul: Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:28-31.) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2 Thess. 2:1- 5.) During the dark ages of papal supremacy the Church of Rome did its utmost to prevent laymen from reading the Bible. The Reformation began a process of revealing the Truth of God from His Holy Word; and this was still in progress at the end of the 18th century. At this time, by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit, understanding of a great prophecy of the Book of Daniel began to be opened to the minds of individuals in various parts of the world, completely without contact with each other. It was the beginning of the Time of the End, and of the Great Second Advent Movement out of which the Seventh-day Adventist Church emerged. This work of the Holy Spirit is the precious heritage trivialized by Ben Carson, and now in large measure repudiated by the contemporary corporate body of Seventh-day Adventists. As a famed neurosurgeon, nationally and internationally, Dr. Carson has been held in high esteem in the Church of which he claims to be a member. He must bear the primary responsibility for his errant ways; but it is quite likely that Seventh-day Adventist pastors have contributed to his spiritual delinquency. He has probably been consorting with contemporary Seventh-day Adventist ministers of the same ilk as the one in California who expressly stated that he had no time for "heavy theology," a sentiment also heard from the lips of another pastor in Oregon, and probably shared by many in the world Church. Higher Criticism has destroyed faith in the Bible as the inspired Word of God. The great tragedy is that Carson's misconception of true Christianity is a reflection of the contemporary Seventh-day Adventist Church. He doesn't have the vaguest notion about the Gospel of Adventism, and neither does a large company of Seventh-day Adventist ministers. Not only is this man not a genuine Seventh-day Adventist in the real meaning of the name; unbelievably, he is an enemy of the US Constitution: Ben Carson: Separation Of Church And State Is ‘Schizophrenia, A Form Of Craziness’ Carson got a very enthusiastic response from at the Iowa State Fair Sunday. He called for Americans to unify to take on problems facing the country. He also had them whipped into a frenzy when he called on them to preach the good word. CNS News reported on the event quoting Carson: “We have to stop listening to these people who tell us that we cannot talk about God, we cannot talk about our faith, I wonder, do they realize that our founding document, our Declaration of Independence, talks about certain inalienable rights given to us by our Creator – aka God?” The Founding Fathers also had a very good rule about separation of Church and State, but that hasn’t stopped churches from interfering with politics on a daily basis. More and more we see the Right go deeper onto the slippery slope of shaping laws to reflect their own private religious beliefs. I am not a person who thinks a religious person can’t hold office, I’m just a firm believer that politicians should take the separation part to heart and keep the religion at home. . . To back his claim about God and the importance of God, Carson made key references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance, on the walls of U.S. courtrooms, and on coins and banknotes. “So, if it’s in our founding documents, it’s in our pledge, it’s in our courts and it’s on our money, but we’re not supposed to talk about it, what in the world is that? In medicine we call it schizophrenia, a form of craziness.” I guess he forgot that “In God We Trust” was added to the money by Eisenhower, not Washington and the “Under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance on Flag Day in 1954. Ben Carson’s theocratic lie: The pernicious myth of America the “Christian nation” One of the more enduring tropes on the religious right is this notion that America is a Christian nation, or at the very least a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles. This has become central to conservative mythology in this country. Despite having no basis in fact or history, this trope simply won’t die. One hears it from virtually every Republican politician, and it’s always accepted uncritically by conservative commentators and audiences. This week, Republican candidate for president Ben Carson repeated this lie on Fox News, and he did it in typical nonchalant fashion, as though it were a truism. Near the end of a rambling interview about traditional marriage and religious liberty, Carson said: “This is a Judeo-Christian nation, in the sense that a lot of our values are based on a Judeo-Christian faith.” This statement isn’t even remotely true, but it reflects a widespread ignorance about American history. America is populated overwhelmingly by Christians, but this isn’t a Christian nation in any meaningful sense – and it never was. This inconvenient distinction is often lost on conservatives, and it’s why they’re under the impression that the government ought to respect their religious morality over and above all others (i.e., Kim Davis) Ben Carson displays incredible ignorance for such a highly educated man. He neither understands what true Seventh-day Adventism is all about, nor does he understand the US Constitution. As an enemy of the United States Constitution, he is not really a Seventh-day Adventist, even by the standards of the contemporary Church, since the Denomination still advocates separation of church and state. How far from her prophetic roots the Seventh-day Adventist Church has strayed! From [D]@gmail.com:- NEWS RELEASE: Adventist Church to mark UN’s International Day of Peace September 21 Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders are inviting members to join the United Nations’ International Day of Peace on Sunday, September 21 by responding to a call for a minute of silence at noon with prayer. In prepared remarks for the upcoming day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged people to reflect on peace. “We must douse the fires of extremism and tackle the root causes of conflict. Peace is a long road that we must travel together—step by step, beginning today.” The Adventist Church has promoted peacemaking efforts since its inception. In one of its official statements on peace the Church acknowledged that “Jesus wants his followers to be peacemakers in society and hence calls them blessed.” John Graz, director of the Adventist Church’s Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department, [a disingenuous and delusional Church leader,] said, “Durable peace can not be built without developing education, health, justice and freedom for all people. That’s why the Adventist Church has heavily invested in schools, hospitals and organizations promoting freedom of conscience.” Graz described the International Day of Peace as a “time to strengthen the ideals of peace, and to celebrate those who dedicate their lives to peace making.” . . . Of Bible prophecies predicting worldwide conflicts in the last days of earth's history, two stand out in clear exegesis by the early Bible scholars of the Seventh-day Adventist Church AND statements of Ellen G. White in her prophetic role: On Joel 3:9, the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 1955 printing, states - Adventist expositors have generally seen in this prophecy a forecast, not only of climactic events associated with the great day of the Lord, but of international military activities in the final days of earth's history. The gradual withdrawal of God's Spirit in these last days leaves the way open for a corresponding increase in satanic activity designed to lead men on to destroy one another. This process will reach its climax just before the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. (Vol. 4, p. 949.) On Matt. 24:6, the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary states - And as the wars and rumors of wars of apostolic times foreshadowed the end of the Jewish nation, so the international turmoil and strife of our day presage the end of the world (See PK 536; 5T 753.) In Prophets and Kings, Ellen G. White wrote - Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour's prophecy of the events to precede His coming: "Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. . . . Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." Matthew 24:6, 7 (PK 536-537.) In Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, is found the following statement - These lessons are for our benefit. We need to stay our faith upon God, for there is just before us a time that will try men’s souls. Christ, upon the Mount of Olives, rehearsed the fearful judgments that were to precede His second coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application to the last days (P. 753.) In Maranatha Ellen G. White wrote - In the last scenes of this earth's history war will rage. There will be pestilence, plague and famine. The waters of the deep will overflow their boundaries. Property and life will be destroyed by fire and flood. We should be preparing for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for them that love Him (P. 174.)
In the last sentence is a declaration of the
paramount duty of the Church in these perilous
times. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. (Isa. 46:9-11) But what is this International Day of Peace all about? It is a part of the great ecumenical movement. - United Nations International Day of Peace Each year on September 21, the UN invites all nations and people to honor a cessation of hostilities and commemorate the International Day of Peace through education and public awareness on issues related to peace. In the quest for peace, UPF chapters around the world organize commemorations of the International Day of Peace each year. The theme for 2015 is "Partnerships for Peace - Dignity for All." Churches to observe International Day of Prayer for Peace The World Council of Churches (WCC) is calling its member churches to observe the International Day of Prayer for Peace on 21 September. This year parishes and individuals are invited to pray using the theme of the WCC 10th Assembly, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”. The assembly takes place in Busan, Republic of Korea 30 October to 8 November. The International Day of Prayer for Peace is commemorated by the WCC in conjunction with the United Nations-sponsored International Day of Peace on 21 September. . . The peace prayer day began during the ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence. The idea was born in a meeting between the WCC general secretary and the UN secretary general in 2004. By involvement with the WCC churches, the Seventh-day Adventist Church proves herself to be a part of Babylon and a harlot by the definition of the very SDA book that published apostasy from the fundamental doctrines upon which she was founded. A spurious peace will be achieved under the leadership of the archdeceiver Satan (Isa. 14:13-14) The culmination is as described in Isa. 2:2-5, and God's reaction is described is verses 6-22. No true Seventh-day Adventists will be found in the flow of nations described in verse 2 or among the "many people" described in verse 3. "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Rev. 3:3. The advent of Christ will surprise the false teachers. They are saying, "Peace and safety." Like the priests and teachers before the fall of Jerusalem, they look for the church to enjoy earthly prosperity and glory. The signs of the times they interpret as foreshadowing this. But what saith the word of Inspiration? "Sudden destruction cometh upon them." 1 Thess. 5:3. Upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth, upon all who make this world their home, the day of God will come as a snare. It comes to them as a prowling thief. (Desire of Ages, p. 635) It is probably true to state that the predominant prophetic movements of these times are the worldwide ecumenical movement, events in the United States of America, and developments in Palestine. There is always steady progress in the ecumenical movement, some of it dramatic (e.g. alliance and co-ordination between Rome and the United Nations.) Prophetic movements in the United States have been very dramatic in recent months, and only those blinded by unbelief could possibly fail to notice. The one area which has been strangely quiet in terms of the related prophecy of Dan. 11:45 in particular, which is a necessary prelude to fulfillment of the ultimate prophecies of Rev. 17 and Isa. 2, is Palestine. Perhaps this is because the foundations for complete fulfillment of these prophecies are being laid in the ecumenical movement under Rev. 17:3-5, and in the United States under Rev. 13:12, 14b, & 15a? In any event, there has been a recent reminder that Palestine is waiting in the wings (in the background, but nearby, ready to act on short notice):- From [D]@gmail.com: Historic raising of Palestinian flag at United Nations It's a watershed moment that has won support on many fronts, but drawn condemnation from Israel and the United States. The Palestinian flag was raised outside the headquarters of the United Nations in New York for the first time Wednesday. Under cloudy skies, the politically sensitive flag raising ceremony took place at 1:16 p.m. at the U.N.'s Rose Garden. . . The question of a Palestinian state has languished in the international community recently, especially at the General Assembly, where President Obama didn't mention the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his speech. Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erekat was "disappointed" that Obama failed to address the conflict. The flag-raising ceremony puts the spotlight on the Palestinians and highlights their ongoing efforts to obtain statehood, but it needs to be more than a symbolic act for it to be meaningful, Palestinians say. . . It is worthy of note that the Vatican flag is now also flying at the United Nations. Vatican Raises Flag at UN for Pope's Visit The Vatican flag was raised for the first time at the United Nations on Friday, shortly after 6:00 am, ahead of Pope Francis' visit to the world body. . . Unlike the Palestinians, the Holy See mission to the United Nations said its flag would be raised with no ceremony at the same time all other member states flags are raised on Friday. . . The Vatican reacted coolly when the Palestinians first circulated their draft resolution last month. The Palestinians initially presented their initiative as a joint effort with the Holy See, but the Vatican said it would not co-sponsor the resolution and requested that its name be removed from the text. It is not surprising that the Vatican did not want to be associated with the Palestinian resolution, or to co-ordinate the raising of its flag with that of the Palestinian State, which it has recognized. Rome is far too skilled in diplomacy to risk antagonizing Israel, preferring a negotiated settlement of the Jerusalem issue rather than confrontation. The watchfulness repeatedly commanded by Jesus Christ requires that we pay close attention to further developments in Palestine. The triumphal tour is over, and Pope Francis has returned to the Vatican. There is surely significance in the three cities visited on the tour: Washington, capital of the American Nation; New York City, financial capital of America and arguably of the world, also headquarters of the United Nations; and Philadelphia, cradle of the Nation and its constitution guaranteeing individual liberty, of which Rome has never been a friend. There was tremendous symbolism in the delivery of Pope Francis' speech at the very same lectern used by President Lincoln in his Gettysburg address. Be assured that the Pope will continue to loom large over the American nation through the papal policies of the Vatican enabled by the United States government (Rev. 13:12,) until the ultimate despotism predicted by prophecy is ushered in. The tour has been like a "Royal Progress." The Pope is an earthly potentate presenting himself as a lowly servant and a humble man of peace; but poised to wage war on the true saints of God. At the very inception of the papacy Pope Leo the Great, "declared in a sermon that the former Rome was but the promise of the latter Rome; that the glories of the former were to be reproduced in Catholic Rome; that Romulus and Remus were but the forerunners of Peter and Paul; that the successors of Romulus therefore were the precursors of the successors of Peter; and that, as the former Rome had ruled the world, so the latter Rome, by the see of the holy blessed Peter as head of the world, would dominate the earth. Later, "Pope Boniface VIII presented himself in the sight of the multitude, clothed in a cuirass, with a helmet on his head and a sword in his hand held aloft, and proclaimed: “There is no other Caesar, nor king, nor emperor than I, the Sovereign Pontiff and Successor of the Apostles;” and, when further he declared, ex cathedra: “We therefore assert, define, and pronounce that it is necessary to salvation to believe that every human being is subject to the Pontiff of Rome.” (From Alonzo T. Jones' The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, Chapter XIII, "The Transgression and Abomination of Desolation.") Apply these declarations to Pope Francis' posture of humility on his tour of the three American cities; and consider that Rome has been working with particular zeal for over a century to make America Catholic. Rome has not changed:- IN PHILADELPHIA Hundreds of thousands flood Philly for Pope Francis' final Mass Pope Francis celebrated Mass with hundreds of thousands in the streets of the City of Brotherly Love on Sunday, closing his historic six-day visit to the U.S. where he drew big and enthusiastic crowds wherever he went. . . Catholics, as well as non-Catholics who are simply fans of "the people's pope," began flooding the Benjamin Franklin Parkway early on an overcast Sunday in hopes of landing a prime spot to bid Francis farewell. The parkway, an iconic thoroughfare, was dotted with big screens to watch the 78-year-old pontiff deliver his final message to the American people before his return trip to Rome. Boisterous church groups banging drums and singing songs went suddenly silent as the first strains of the musical preludes of the service wafted over the city streets. Crowds blocks away joined in the chanting and prayers as Mass began. The crowds were packed as far away as Philadelphia's city hall, more than a mile from the pope's altar. The Mass could be heard across much of the city's downtown, where crowds stood rapt watching the celebration on the big screens. "We are having a blessed time," said Maureen Cobb, 65, a retired teacher from Canal Winchester, Ohio. "The weather is beautiful, the people are beautiful. All these Christians who want to celebrate the good news of Jesus Christ." Long lines stretched for hours ahead of the Mass, as National Guard soldiers worked to keep the surging crowds orderly. . . Ahead of the Mass, Francis made an unscheduled stop at Saint Joseph’s University to view a newly dedicated statue commemorating the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, a Vatican II document that helped bolster the relationship between the Catholic and Jewish faiths. The document highlighted the historic bond between the two faiths and dismissed past efforts by the Church to convert Jews. Saint Joseph’s, a Jesuit university, established the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations in 1967 in response to the Vatican call for strengthening the interfaith relationship. Pope Francis brought joy to the United States Pope Francis ended his remarkable nine-day visit to the Americas on Sunday with a triumphal outdoor Mass in Philadelphia, where he urged the million attendees to believe in miracles. . . He ended his trip at about 7:30 p.m. when he climbed aboard an American Airlines flight for the trip home to Rome. Thus ended the Royal Progress, which was a remarkable demonstration of the forward movement of prophetic events under Rev. 13. We do indeed have ". . . the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." (2 Peter 1:19, NKJV; emphasis added) This word of prophecy also applies to the Pope's exhortation "to believe in miracles." Ellen G. White has warned about end-time miracles: Satan is a diligent Bible student. He knows that his time is short, and he seeks at every point to counterwork the work of the Lord upon this earth. It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. God's people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan will counterfeit the miracles that will be wrought. God's tried and tested people will find their power in the sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on the living word: "It is written." This is the only foundation upon which they can stand securely. Those who have broken their covenant with God will in that day be without God and without hope. (Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, P. 16; Emphasis added.) As of Friday evening, September 25, 2015, Pope Francis has been riding high in two major cities of the United States, one being the capital of the nation. Pomp and ceremony have been accorded to him, and the people have greeted him with idolatrous adulation. This is an affront to the Most High God of heaven, and the nation is witnessing the grossest breach of the U.S. Constitution. Ornate Roman Catholic rites and ceremonies have received wall-to-wall coverage in the media. The nation and the world have been exposed to a flood of Roman Catholic commentary. An astonishing number of media personalities have revealed their Roman Catholic affiliation. They are not shy about confessing their faith. In media reports it was stated that Junipero Serra brought "christianity" to California. One report stated that the Pope intended the canonization of Serra as a counter to the history of the founding of the American nation by Protestants. The spectacle is a demonstration of what we are up against in our witness about the true nature of the papacy:- IN WASHINGTON D.C.: Inside Pope Francis' Tour of the White House Though he's been treated unlike any other international leader, he did sign the guestbook himself. Note the magnificent welcoming ceremony. A 21-gun salute was planned, then dropped because the Pope is "a man of peace." Perhaps Francis really believes that he is a man of peace; but that is not the history of the papacy. Boehner invites Pope Francis to speak to Congress It is with reverence and admiration that I have invited Pope Francis, as head of state of the Holy See and the first Pope to hail from the Americas, to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress," said House Speaker John Boehner ahead of the high-profile address. Boehner was so filled with emotion that he could not hold back tears. Jim Nicholson, former Republican National CommitteeChairman and United States Ambassador to the Holy See, stated on television that Boehner had been working to achieve a papal address to Congress for twenty years. These Roman Catholics play the long game! Dressed all in white, the Pope was greeted by thunderous applause from lawmakers who rose from their seats as one when he first appeared. Standing on the dais where the President traditionally delivers the annual State of the Union address, and where monarchs and heads of state have addressed Congress in the past, Francis said he was “most grateful for the invitation to address this joint session of Congress in the land of the free and the home of the brave.” . . . This nation has been "the land of the free" because of Protestantism. Freedom of religion and Separation of Church and State in Colonial America and in the Constitution of the United States was inspired by the vision of Roger Williams. Rome has sought to undermine this principle from the founding of the nation, and especially since Pope Leo XIII. Pope Francis canonizes controversial saint Serra Fifty different tribes in California condemned the sainthood conferred on Serra, said Deborah Miranda, a literature professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia and a member of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation of California. She wrote "Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir," a book about her ancestors' experiences in the Spanish missions. "My objection and the objection of many California Indians is that he is being honored for in fact dishonoring many of our California ancestors. The missions ended up killing about 90% of the California Indians present at the time of missionization, creating all kinds of cultural and emotional baggage that we still carry to this day," Miranda said. "It's not a question of attacking the Catholic Church or attacking Pope Francis. It's about making sure that the truth is heard and that injustices are not continued on into the 21st century." But the Native American campaign to stop Serra's canonization never gained an audience in Rome, Miranda said. IN NEW YORK CITY: Pope Francis mingles with high and low in New York visit Sweeping through the landmarks of America's biggest city, Pope Francis on Friday offered comfort to 9/11 victims' families at ground zero, warnings to world leaders at the United Nations and encouragement to schoolchildren in Harlem as he mixed the high and low ministry so characteristic of his papacy. . . Francis' itinerary for his only full day in New York was packed with contrasts befitting a head of state dubbed the "slum pope" for his devotion to the poor. He moved from the corridors of power to the grit of the projects with lush Central Park in between. He drew huge, adoring crowds while also managing to connect one-on-one with countless New Yorkers, despite extraordinarily tight security that closed off many streets and kept most spectators behind police barricades. "As he passed by, you felt a cool, refreshing peace, as if he were spreading a huge blanket of peace through the crowd," Ruth Smart of Brooklyn said of the procession in Central Park. "Even though the crowd exploded in a roar, it was pure joy." It was the crowning end to a day that began with Francis urging the United Nations General Assembly to combat climate change, segued into a solemn visit to the National September Memorial & Museum, was followed by a trip to East Harlem to meet Catholic school children and a ride through Central Park where 80,000 people cheered him on. The Pen of Inspiration has predicted the outcome of devotion to Rome and her teachings. We can now expect a backlash from God in His just anger. For four centuries He has looked with favor on America as a refuge for persecuted Protestants. It is they who needed protection, not the Roman Catholics who have been the unrivalled persecutors. This led in the past to fear and hostility towards the Roman Catholic laity. Their increasing numbers tended to enhance the influence and power of Rome. Current events support this statement. Only those who have rejected the tried and true grammatical-historical (proof text) method of Bible study can believe that the Roman Catholic Church has changed. This is not to absolve the early English settlers who were themselves intolerant; but Rome has always been the primary enemy of religious freedom, and she has seduced the false prophet of apostate Protestantism into alliance with her.. May God protect those who abhor this religio-political travesty - of the true Christian faith and the fundamental founding principle of separation of Church and State in America - from the wrath to come upon this nation even before the seven last plagues. Prophecy predicts that the Beast and the False Prophet will prevail until God inervenes; but we must persevere in the hope that some will heed the call of Rev. 18 to come out of Babylon before it is too late. The Archdeceiver "the great dragon," "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan," (Rev. 12:9,) promises peace to the inhabitants of this world by his proxy the Pope (Rev. 13:2 last part.):- From [D]@gmail.com: Israeli president hopes Pope Francis can be a ‘bridge’ for peace Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met with Pope Francis on Thursday at the Vatican, where Rivlin praised the pontiff’s ability to bring people together and hoped that he could act as a bridge for Middle East peace. “I said to the Pope that I see in him a bridge, and asked of him to serve as such in the most difficult of places for mediation, where there no trust exists between the parties,” Rivlin said. Among the other topics discussed during their meeting were efforts to combat the rise in global anti-Semitism, the financial crisis surrounding Christian schools in Israel, and a joint initiative between Israel’s government and Christian community aimed at developing the area around the site of Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan Valley. “I told the pope that the initiative has the potential to bring together the peoples of the region— Jordanians, Israelis, and Palestinians, and all those of faith—Christians, Muslims, and Jews,” Rivlin said. Across religions, Pope Francis regarded as a peacemaker At a recent Sabbath service, the members of Beth El Temple in Harrisburg recited a prayer for the environment from Pope Francis.In his simple office ode to men and women of peace, Muslim scholar Mehdi Noorbaksh keeps, in addition to a picture of Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a photo of Francis surrounded by children. As with millions of other men and women across religious traditions, Noorbaksh and Beth El's Rabbi Eric Cytryn hold Francis in the highest regards, not only as a man of faith, but as an advocate of peace and humanity. . . The pontiff's ratings have fluctuated in recent times amid his propensity for raising the ire of both conservatives and progressives, but two years into his papacy, he enjoys popularity in the United States – not just among Catholics, but also in the eyes of non-Catholics, including those who have no religious affiliation, according to the Pew Research Center. Francis is popular even among those without a religious affiliation. . . Francis has also courted American evangelicals, notably meeting in March 2014, the family whose company, Hobby Lobby, took their challenge to Obama's contraception mandate to the Supreme Court. A few months later, he met with megachurch televangelist Joel Osteen. . . In June, during his trip to Bosnia, Francis urged Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics to put the "barbarity" of war behind them and work for peace. He has negotiated thorny reactions to his favorable views of a Palestinian state, but underscored his meetings with Middle East leaders with peace prayers. In January, he reminded the world that the most effective "antidote" to violence among Christians and Muslims was demystifying and embracing respective differences. . . It is all a cruel hoax. Prophecy has not left us blind to the deception (Micah 4:1-4, Isa. 2:1-6.) Isa. 2:6-22 makes very clear the meaning of Micah 4:1-4. The Apostle Paul in I Thess. 5:1-3 gives the final word: But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
The Adventist Review proudly reports the
City of Rome will name a central square after
Protestant reformer Martin Luther in response to a
request by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and with
the support of the Roman Catholic Church. The
religious liberty director of the The two "Protestant" denominations specifically involved in this symbolism are of particular significance. Faithful to his calling of God, Martin Luther identified the Church of Rome as "Babylon". Once faithful to her calling of God, the Seventh-day Adventist Church identified Rome and her daughters as "Great Babylon." In the ecumenical juggernaut of our generation, the Lutheran Church has fallen into alliance with Rome, and the Seventh-day Adventist Church has played the harlot, even to the extent of expunging essential historical and prophetic language from Ellen G. White's Great Controversy. The Adventist Review report:- From [D]@gmail.com: At Adventist Request, Rome Will Name Square After Martin Luther Rome will name a central square after Protestant reformer Martin Luther in response to a request by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and with the support of the Roman Catholic Church. . . The decision marks the end of a six-year process that began when local Adventists asked Rome authorities to name a street or square after Luther to commemorate the 500th anniversary of a historic trip that he made to the city. . . In June 2009, a group of Adventists verified that no location in Rome was dedicated to Luther and approached Rome’s Toponymy Commission, which oversees the naming of places, with the request to honor Luther on the 500th anniversary of his trip. “Five hundred years later, where are we as Christians in our spiritual journey?” Carlo Giliberti, the initiator of the proposal and religious liberty director of the Lungotevere Michelangelo Adventist church in Rome, said in an interview with the Notizie Avventiste magazine in 2009. “We want to be like Luther, who from Rome began his conversion experience of following Jesus and Him alone,” Giliberti said. “Luther began the Protestant Reformation from Rome, but all of us as Christians are called to choose only Jesus in our lives.” Giliberti, supported by the Adventist Church in Italy, invited other Protestant denominations to support the Luther initiative. Unbeknown to the Adventists, the Lutheran Church made a similar proposal to the city of Rome at the same time. This is a part of the fulfillment of the Apostle Paul's prophecy concerning those who have fallen under the spell of "the man of sin," because "they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved," "but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Ellen G. White specifically applied this prophecy to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is the Church to which the message of Rev. 14:6-12 was committed. At that time, the great body of Christ’s true followers were still to be found in the communion of the churches which then constituted Babylon (The Great Controversy, Page 390.) The final witness will reveal how many of those still in Babylon receive the Seal of God and escape the all-embracing menace of the Mark of the Beast. When President Jimmy Carter invited Pope John-Paul II into the White House in 1979, it was an event of great prophetic significance. He assented to the Pope's blessing on the assembled representatives of all three branches of the government. This was followed by disaster for his administration. The events scheduled for September, 2015, exceed by alarming degrees of magnitude that of 1979. They signal the Roman Catholic domination of the United States. The spiritual gift of prophecy to the once "faithful city" speaks to the remnant people of God everywhere, declaring that national ruin looms on the horizon for the American nation:- From [D]@gmail.com: Obama to seek unity with Pope Francis on issues in White House visit Sweeping into office in 2009, President Barack Obama captured near rock-star status around the world among millions who saw him as the embodiment of a new sense of social purpose. Now, that baton has largely been passed to Pope Francis, whose visit to the White House next month will put his common cause with Obama on vivid display. Obama has made no secret of his affection for the outspoken pope, calling him a "transformative leader" whose influence has transcended the Roman Catholic community. The pope has embraced many of the issues Obama has sought to advance, including global warming, poverty and diplomacy with Iran and Cuba. Vice President Joe Biden, a Catholic, said the pope's Sept. 23 visit will mark an important moment not only for Catholics but for all Americans. "Pope Francis has breathed new life into what I believe is the central mission of our faith: Catholic social doctrine," Biden said in a statement to The Associated Press. Invoking key elements of Obama's agenda, Biden added that Francis "has become a moral rudder for the world on some of the most important issues of our time, from inequality to climate change." . . . (Underscored emphasis added) (Cf. Vatican U.N. representative reports high interest in papal visit) If taken at face value the following lengthy report suggests that invitations to the Pope from the White House, Congress, and the United Nations were extended more or less independently. However this may be, it is reasonable to perceive the work of the spirits of devils bringing it all together: US Ambassador to the Holy See Talks about Pope Francis’ Visit to the United States As representative of the President and the people of the United States to the Holy See you’re playing an important role in preparing for the Pope’s visit. What can you say about the visit with its variety of possibilities, what are the key issues? Yes, there are a variety of possibilities and the key issues are still not locked down, firmed up. But, to understand it well, I think you have to go back to the visit of President Obama to the Pope on 27 March 2014 which, in a way, came after the decision to visit Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families. Francis just picked up Benedict’s commitment on that, and carried it forward. But the President’s visit did more than just lock in that commitment. The President invited him to the United States? Yes, the President invited him and more importantly, in the context of that invitation, the dynamic, the personal interaction, was more than warm; they hit it off on a number of issues including, I think, migration, poverty, exclusion, and people falling through the cracks. Those are the kind of things that I believe they were discussing behind closed doors. As soon as we were let in immediately afterwards you could feel the atmosphere in the room was very positive. So somehow Pope Francis had a very positive view of President Obama and what he is trying to do, and they clicked. And I think that led to his decision to come. Then the following September I carried the invitation from Speaker Boehner to speak to Congress and I probably said at the time that this is a long shot, but Francis picked it up and there it goes. The UN was not on the cards in the very beginning because we kept hearing it’s going to be a pastoral visit, and yes he’ll go to the White House, and then he’ll go to Congress. But all of a sudden (UN Secretary General) Ban Ki-moon came in and locked down the UN because a lot of people were saying it is the 50th anniversary of Paul VI’s visit to the UN, and Francis could speak about climate and about the sustainable development goals, and so they were creating an environment for him to speak at the UN. But I believe the President’s coming made the difference about him coming to Washington. In harmony with Ellen G. White's counsel on the use of the Testimonies, the following prophecies apply perfectly to the religio-political events that have happened in the United States since the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. The Seventh-day Adventist skeptic is challenged to argue reasonably that they are not. Particularly challenged are those who have heard of the interpretation of Our Lord's Own Prophecy in Luke 21:24, and refuse to believe that His Second Coming will happen within one generation of fulfillment of the prophecy. One generation is generally defined as forty years. These prophecies of the Messenger of the Lord demand careful attention: ELLEN G. WHITE END-TIME STATEMENTS From "Last Day Events" God will, to all intents and purposes, be made void in our land, and national apostasy will be followed by national ruin.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:977 (1888). It is at the time of the national apostasy when, acting on the policy of Satan, the rulers of the land will rank themselves on the side of the man of sin. It is then the measure of guilt is full. The national apostasy is the signal for national ruin.—Selected Messages 2:373 (1891). Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the state. This national apostasy will speedily be followed by national ruin.—The Review and Herald, June 15, 1897. When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal sabbath be enforced by the combined authority of church and state. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.—Evangelism, 235 (1899). When the state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the institutions of the church—then will Protestant America have formed an image to the papacy, and there will be a national apostasy which will end only in national ruin.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:976 (1910). (Underscored emphasis added) GCB January 1, 1900, Art. B, par. 10 The General Conference Bulletin January 1, 1900, Art. B paragraph 10 (EGW) This subject is urging itself upon my mind. Consider it; for it is a matter of vast importance. With which of these two classes shall we identify our interest? We are now making our choice, and we shall soon discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Read the fourth chapter of Malachi, and think about it seriously. The day of God is right upon us. The world has converted the church. Both are in harmony, and are acting upon a short-sighted policy. Protestants will work upon the rulers of the land to make laws to restore the lost ascendency of the man of sin, who sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. The Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the State. This national apostasy will speedily be followed by national ruin. The protest of Bible truth will be no longer tolerated by those who have made not the law of God their rule of life. Then will the voice be heard from the graves of martyrs, represented by the souls which John saw slain for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ which they held; then the prayer will ascend from every true child of God, “It is time, Lord, for thee to work: for they have made void thy law.” Note the phrase "Protestants will work upon the rulers of the land to make laws . . .," and the sentence "The Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the State." These perfectly cover the Roman Catholic teachings of "Subsidiarity" (Limited Government,) "Natural Law" (prevails over the civil law of the land;) and the Roman Catholic "Social Doctrine" in general, which includes the "Right to Life" movement. The crusade against Abortion is a blatant proclamation of the dogma of the Immortality of the Soul in the declaration that "life begins at conception" because of "ensoulment.") Those who continue to beat the drum of a National Sunday Law should carefully consider another set of predictions of Ellen G. White concerning Sunday legislation: History will be repeated. False religion will be exalted. The first day of the week, a common working day, possessing no sanctity whatever, will be set up as was the image of Babylon. All nations and tongues and peoples will be commanded to worship this spurious sabbath.... The decree enforcing the worship of this day is to go forth to all the world.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:976 (1897). As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example.—Testimonies for the Church 6:18 (1900). The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part.—Testimonies for the Church 6:352 (1900). Foreign nations will follow the example of the United States. Though she leads out, yet the same crisis will come upon our people in all parts of the world.—Testimonies for the Church 6:395 (1900). Unquestionably, the United States takes the lead, consistent with Rev. 13:12; but remember that the final movements will be rapid ones. Obviously the world follows so closely after the United States that a national quality does not apply. The enforcement of Sunday observance will be a worldwide event. Whether or not the enforcement of Sunday observance in the United States comes before or during the false revival of Isa. 2 remains to be seen. Now is the time to face up to the spiritual realities. Let us not say in our hearts, "It cannot be so soon - I am not ready for eternity;" or be found in the ranks of those who, because of unbelief, will lament in the end, "the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (Jer. 8:20.) No Church membership or involvement in the good works of the "Social Gospel" will save us - only belief in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31,) which embraces taking Him at His Word, with "righteousness by faith" in Him, and the hope of perfection by faith in Him. To be ignorant of history is to remain always a child - Cicero. We do not want to be children though grown into adulthood, so history as well as current events are emphasized on this web page. It is history that exposes the maliciously vengeful significance of a symbolic connection to be made in September of this year between Jesuit Pope Francis and America's great President Abraham Lincoln:- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis Will Speak From Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address Lectern The Pope will speak from the lectern where Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863, the World Meeting of Families announced in a Friday press release. The Abraham Lincoln Foundation will provide the historical artifact for when Pope Francis delivers his speech in front of Independence Hall on Sept. 26. The Pope will speak in Philadelphia toward the end of a 6-day trip to the U.S. that will begin with President Obama at the White House and include an address to the U.N. General Assembly. The name of Charles Chiniquy is well-known for his authorship of the book Fifty Years in the Church of Rome. Not surprisingly, there have been relentless attacks on his credibility by numerous Roman Catholic authors, many of whom were probably Jesuits. They are masters of propaganda; so if even Chiniquy seems to be discredited it does not prove that he was not revealing the truth. The fact is that whether or not Chiniquy is believable in his quotations of what Abraham Lincoln said about the Church of Rome, and the Jesuits in particular, they have good reason to hate him for the widespread dissemination of his charges against the papacy. Thus, either way, it is not surprising that Roman Catholic activists would stage this symbolic demonstration of papal triumph over opposition. Charles Chiniquy's Fifty Years in the Church of Rome is the source of information on President Abraham Lincoln's views about the Church of Rome and the Jesuits. The following quotations reveal his appreciation of their threat to the Union and democracy: "This war would never have been possible without the sinister influence of the Jesuits. We owe it to Popery that we now see our land reddened with the blood of her noblest sons. Though there were great differences of opinion between the South and the North, on the question of slavery, neither Jeff Davis nor any one of the leading men of the Confederacy would have dared to attack the North, had they not relied on the promises of the Jesuits, that under the mask of Democracy, the money and the arms of the Roman Catholic, even the arms of France, were at their disposal, if they would attack us. I pity the priests, the bishops and the monks of Rome in the United States, when the people realize that they are, in great part, responsible for the tears and the blood shed in this war; the later the more terrible will the retribution be. I conceal what I know, on that subject, from the knowledge of the nation; for if the people knew the whole truth, this war would turn into a religious war, and it would, at once, take a tenfold more savage and bloody character, it would become merciless as all religious wars are. It would become a war of extermination on both sides. The Protestants of both the North and the South would surely unite to exterminate the priests and the Jesuits, if they could hear what Professor Morse has said to me of the plots made in the very city of Rome to destroy this Republic, and if they could learn how the priests, the nuns, and the monks, which daily land on our shores, under the pretext of preaching their religion, instructing the people in their schools, taking care of the sick in the hospitals, are nothing else but the emissaries of the Pope, of Napoleon, and the other despots of Europe, to undermine our institutions, alienate the hearts of our people from our constitution, and our laws, destroy our schools, and prepare a reign of anarchy here as they have done in Ireland, in Mexico, in Spain, and wherever there are any people who want to be free, ect." "It is with the Southern leaders of this civil war as with the big and small wheels of our railroad cars. Those who ignore the laws of mechanics are apt to think that the large, strong, and noisy wheels they see are the motive power, but they are mistaken. The real motive power is not seen; it is noiseless and well concealed in the dark, behind its iron walls. The motive power are the few well-concealed pails of water heated into steam, which is itself directed by the noiseless, small but unerring engineer's finger. "The common people see and hear the big, noisy wheels of the Southern Confederacy's cars; they call [them] Jeff Davis, Lee, Toombs, Beauregard, Semmes, etc., and they honestly think that they are the motive power, the first cause of our troubles. But this is a mistake. The true motive power is secreted behind the thick walls of the Vatican, the colleges and schools of the Jesuits, the convents of the nuns, and the confessional boxes of Rome. "There is a fact which is too much ignored by the American people, and with which I am acquainted only since I became President; it is that the best, the leading families of the South have received their education in great part, if not in whole, from the Jesuits and the nuns. Hence those degrading principles of slavery, pride, cruelty, which are as a second nature among so many of those people. Hence that strange want of fair play, humanity; that implacable hatred against the ideas of equality and liberty as we find them in the Gospel of Christ. You do not ignore that the first settlers of Louisiana, Florida, New Mexico, Texas, South California and Missouri were Roman Catholics, and that their first teachers were Jesuits. It is true that those states have been conquered or bought by us since. But Rome had put the deadly virus of her antisocial and anti-Christian maxims into the veins of the people before they became American citizens. Unfortunately, the Jesuits and the nuns have in great part remained the teachers of those people since. They have continued in a silent, but most efficacious way, to spread their hatred against our institutions, our laws, our schools, our rights and our liberties in such a way that this terrible conflict became unavoidable between the North and the South. As I told you before, it is to Popery that we owe this terrible civil war. "I would have laughed at the man who would have told me that before I became the President. But Professor Morse has opened my eyes on that subject. And now I see that mystery; I understand that engineering of hell which, though not seen or even suspected by the country, is putting in motion the large, heavy, and noisy wheels of the state cars of the Southern Confederacy. Our people is not yet ready to learn and believe those things, and perhaps it is not the proper time to initiate them to those dark mysteries of hell; it would throw oil on a fire which is already sufficiently destructive. "You are almost the only one with whom I speak freely on that subject. But sooner or later the nation will know the real origin of those rivers of blood and tears, which are spreading desolation and death everywhere. And then those who have caused those desolations and disasters will be called to give an account of them. "I do not pretend to be a prophet. But though not a prophet, I see a very dark cloud on our horizon. And that dark cloud is coming from Rome. It is filled with tears of blood. It will rise and increase till its flanks will be torn by a flash of lightning, followed by a fearful peal of thunder. Then a cyclone, such as the world has never seen, will pass over this country, spreading ruin and desolation from north to south. After it is over, there will be long days of peace and prosperity: for Popery, with its Jesuits and merciless Inquisition, will have been for ever swept away from our country. Neither I nor you, but our children, will see those things." [A prediction never to be fulfilled, because the Jesuit propaganda of decades has prevailed.] The Jesuit attack on the credibility of Chiniquy has neutralized the force of these statements. Today, few will believe them; but there is sufficient corroboration of the central facts of history in America and beyond her shores, by respected and/or neutral sources, to verify the animosity of the Vatican towards this democracy and President Lincoln: Italy’s Own Lost Cause (New York Times) In the same eventful spring of 1861 that marked the outbreak of the American Civil War, Italy declared its existence as a united kingdom. In fact, just as the bombardment of an island fortress in Charleston, S.C., riveted the attention of a nation plunging into civil war, the kingdom of southern Italy made a last-ditch stand against northern Italian bombardment of a waterfront fortress midway between Rome and Naples. The two sieges, of Fort Sumter and of Gaeta, came only weeks apart. The war of southern resistance to what was perceived as northern invasion roiled Italy for years to follow. It prompted diplomatic notes from the American secretary of state to the northern Italian foreign minister, conveying the sympathy and support of a country that was dealing with its own southern insurgency to another young nation in a similar plight. It prompted an exchange of letters between the pope in Rome and Jefferson Davis in Richmond, an acknowledgment of the Confederacy that General Robert E. Lee would cherish to his dying day — not only as evidence that a European power had conferred diplomatic recognition upon the Confederacy, but even as a measure of divine justification. And just as the smoldering embers of the Civil War stirred a mass migration of American blacks to the northern states, some historians have traced this Italian civil war, which took the form of guerrilla fighting and brigandage, to the mass migration from southern Italy to the New World. . . The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War All this was confounded by fortuitous events in Italy, a nation newly uniting just as the United States, the Italian Risorgimento's role-model, was fragmenting. Italian unification begun by Garibaldi's famed exploits was now being consummated by his march on the Roman papal states, which were protected by Napoleon III's troops. But on August 28th, 1862, at Aspromonte, Garibaldi confronted the regular Italian army, compelled by Italy's king and cabinet to appease France, and was wounded and imprisoned. The widely beloved hero's uncertain fate – from fatal wound or court-martial – sent shock waves north and west. One hundred thousand Garibaldi supporters demonstrated in Hyde Park. George Perkins Marsh, the US minister to Italy, persuaded Italian officials to grant amnesty and offered asylum in America for Garibaldi, who had previously declined a Union army generalship, unless the North would free the slaves. Just then came timely notices of Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. This enabled Garibaldi to save the Union, 'my second home', without leaving Italy. Thanking Marsh, he appealed 'to all the democrats of Europe to join us in fighting this holy battle' against conjoined papacy and Confederacy. 'All tyrannies sympathize', remarked Marsh, as Pope Pius IX endorsed the South; 'the slave-driver and the priest are twin brothers.' With Napoleon III disconcerted by Garibaldian fervour and England, like France, shrinking from war against the revitalised North, foreign support of Southern sovereignty collapsed. That the emancipation proclamation brought no race riots doomed Southern recognition. Lincoln brilliantly cast America's Civil War as no mere domestic cause but all humanity's, 'that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth'. Old World monarchical statesmen marvelled that the American republic had raised a citizen's army and weathered traumatic loss without a break in mandated succession from one elected regime to the next. Union victory, won in substantial measure by European popular sentiment, virtually rescued democracy from global extinction. (Cf. Assassination of President Lincoln - The Vatican HATED the U.S. before the fall of the Papal States!!; Rome's Responsibility for the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln) The words of Abraham Lincoln at the Gettysburg Address Lectern, "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth" are now to be superseded by words of Pope Francis which will include a statement on "religious liberty." Few will understand that the Roman Catholic concept of "religious liberty" involves the extinction of that form of government which President Lincoln extolled at the very same lectern to be used by the Pope. "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816. ME 14:384 "Convinced that the people are the only safe depositories of their own liberty, and that they are not safe unless enlightened to a certain degree, I have looked on our present state of liberty as a short-lived possession unless the mass of the people could be informed to a certain degree." -- Thomas Jefferson to Littleton Waller Tazewell, 1805.
It is too late to save
the Republic; it is gone
forever, and the Democracy will soon follow.
Nevertheless, it is still possible to escape the
Mark of the Beast by a knowledge and
understanding of past history, combined with
alertness and responsiveness to the fulfillment of
A Papal Encyclical is defined as follows: "A Papal Encyclical is the name typically given to a letter written by a Pope to a particular audience of Bishops. This audience of Bishops may be all of the Bishops in a specific country or all of the Bishops in all countries throughout the world." A diligent watcher has noted that Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' is addressed to the entire world. Thus what is an integral part of the encyclical is of profound significance in relation to the closing events of earth's history. [I]@yahoo.com writes:- Pope Francis brought Sunday rest, the Eucharist, and climate change all together in his latest encyclical. In this encyclical, Laudato Si’ (subtitled Care For Our Common Home), the Pope has identified answers or ways to abate climate change. He has pointed to Sunday rest as one of the solutions to the problem: 3. More than fifty years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire “Catholic world” and indeed “to all men and women of good will”. Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wrote to all the members of the Church with the aim of encouraging ongoing missionary renewal. In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home. . . . 236. It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours. In the Eucharist, fullness is already achieved; it is the living centre of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life. Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: “Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world”.[166] The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation. The world which came forth from God’s hands returns to him in blessed and undivided adoration: in the bread of the Eucharist, “creation is projected towards divinization, towards the holy wedding feast, towards unification with the Creator himself”.[167] Thus, the Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation. 237. On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. It also proclaims “man’s eternal rest in God”.[168] In this way, Christian spirituality incorporates the value of relaxation and festivity. We tend to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but this is to do away with the very thing which is most important about work: its meaning. We are called to include in our work a dimension of receptivity and gratuity, which is quite different from mere inactivity. Rather, it is another way of working, which forms part of our very essence. It protects human action from becoming empty activism; it also prevents that unfettered greed and sense of isolation which make us seek personal gain to the detriment of all else. The law of weekly rest forbade work on the seventh day, “so that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your maidservant, and the stranger, may be refreshed” (Ex 23:12). Rest opens our eyes to the larger picture and gives us renewed sensitivity to the rights of others. And so the day of rest, centred on the Eucharist, sheds it light on the whole week, and motivates us to greater concern for nature and the poor. So the Pope attributes to the Eucharist and Sunday the power to motivate us to greater concern for nature and the poor. It is not difficult to visualize a charge being made against the few who refuse to participate in the Eucharist and Sunday worship that they are the cause of the natural disasters prophesied by Jesus Christ for the last days after the times of the Gentiles have been fulfilled, and predicted by Ellen G. White to intensify as the end approaches. The Encyclical is permeated with reasoning based on Roman Catholic dogma, doctrine, and philosophy, including the pantheistic praise of Sir Brother Sun and pantheistic concepts, associated with the Trinity under the section titled SACRAMENTAL SIGNS AND THE CELEBRATION OF REST: 233. The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face.[159] The ideal is not only to pass from the exterior to the interior to discover the action of God in the soul, but also to discover God in all things. Saint Bonaventure teaches us that “contemplation deepens the more we feel the working of God’s grace within our hearts, and the better we learn to encounter God in creatures outside ourselves”.[160] 234. Saint John of the Cross taught that all the goodness present in the realities and experiences of this world “is present in God eminently and infinitely, or more properly, in each of these sublime realities is God”.[161] This is not because the finite things of this world are really divine, but because the mystic experiences the intimate connection between God and all beings, and thus feels that “all things are God”. . . 235. The Sacraments are a privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of mediating supernatural life. Through our worship of God, we are invited to embrace the world on a different plane. Water, oil, fire and colours are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated in our act of praise. The hand that blesses is an instrument of God’s love and a reflection of the closeness of Jesus Christ, who came to accompany us on the journey of life. Water poured over the body of a child in Baptism is a sign of new life. Encountering God does not mean fleeing from this world or turning our back on nature. This is especially clear in the spirituality of the Christian East. “Beauty, which in the East is one of the best loved names expressing the divine harmony and the model of humanity transfigured, appears everywhere: in the shape of a church, in the sounds, in the colours, in the lights, in the scents”.[164] For Christians, all the creatures of the material universe find their true meaning in the incarnate Word, for the Son of God has incorporated in his person part of the material world, planting in it a seed of definitive transformation. “Christianity does not reject matter. Rather, bodiliness is considered in all its value in the liturgical act, whereby the human body is disclosed in its inner nature as a temple of the Holy Spirit and is united with the Lord Jesus, who himself took a body for the world’s salvation”.[165] 236. It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours. In the Eucharist, fullness is already achieved; it is the living centre of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life. Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love: “Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world”.[166] The Eucharist joins heaven and earth; it embraces and penetrates all creation. The world which came forth from God’s hands returns to him in blessed and undivided adoration: in the bread of the Eucharist, “creation is projected towards divinization, towards the holy wedding feast, towards unification with the Creator himself”.[167] Thus, the Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation. . . The Pope's reference to "the Christian East," brings to mind Isa. 2:6a, which follows events that are yet future (Dan. 11:45, Isa. 2:2-5). From this section to the end, the Encyclical is all religious dogma and doctrine of the most blasphemous kind, extending beyond the Eucharist and Sunday to embrace the Trinity(hyperlinked above,) Mariolatry (with a strong element of veneration of the sun,) and even the assumption of Joseph. In America, which is already far advanced in the worship of the Beast (Rev. 13:12,) President Obama has called on "fellow world leaders to reflect on Pope Francis’s encyclical," and the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church have taken their marching orders from the Pope: Obama calls for world leaders to heed Pope Francis’s message The President of the United States has said he wants fellow world leaders to reflect on Pope Francis’s encyclical. Laudato Si’, published yesterday, called for humanity to change its approach to the environment and the way it judged progress. Barack Obama spoke of the responsibility that his own job title brings in leading the way towards a change in global environmental policy. . . . US Catholics ready to follow Pope's 'marching orders' on climate change Leaders of the Catholic church in America took their “marching orders” from the pope’s encyclical on Thursday, fanning out to Congress and the White House to push for action on climate change. The high-level meetings offered a first glimpse of a vast and highly organised effort by the leadership of America’s nearly 80 million Catholics to turn the pope’s moral call for action into reality. “It is our marching orders for advocacy,” Joseph Kurtz, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archbishop of Louisville, said. “It really brings about a new urgency for us.” Representatives of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said they would hold two briefings for members of Congress on Thursday and visit the White House on Friday to promote and explain the pope’s environmental message. Those efforts will get a new injection of urgency, when the pope delivers a much-anticipated address to Congress during his visit to the US in September, church leaders said. . . . As early as 1998 Elder Wm H. Grotheer drew attention to a new theology of the papacy regarding Sunday: DIES DOMINI The “New” Theology of the Papacy Regarding Sunday This year in connection with Pentecost, Pope John Paul II sent an Apostolic Letter to the Bishops of the Church bringing together the Eucharist and the observance of Sunday, Mary, and the "Most Holy Trinity." His main emphasis was to establish the "new" theology of Rome in respect to Sunday as had been set forth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church released in 1994. Special attention has been given to the Papal choice of words in their "new" theology of Sunday, and the warning given in the Writings. [For a full understanding, read the entire article, and the "Let's Talk It Over" section of that issue of WWN.] The Scripture clearly indicates that the end-time crisis Involves worship. The "image of the beast" is to cause all that would not "worship the image" of itself "should be killed" (Rev.13:15). God's message of warning - the Third Angel's Message - declares that "If any man worship the beast and his image ... the same shall drink of the wine" of His wrath (14:9-10). Interestingly, that in this announcement of things to come, the "mark in his forehead, or in his hand" follows the worship of the beast and the image (v. 9). The question arises - Does the act of worship bring "the mark"? It is obvious, if the order as given in Scripture has any meaning, "the mark" does not precede the act of worship. This concept and the factors involved are emotionally charged issues in the Community of Adventism. It must be asked, If Sunday is the "mark," then what is the nature of the worship which precedes it? How does that "worship" place a "mark" on one? Further, is the object of worship, a "what" or is it a "who"? . . . The crisis could come in one of two ways: 1) Forbidding worship on the Sabbath, or 2) Mandating attendance at a Eucharistic service on Sunday. The first in some form will occur. We have been warned of Satan's intents. He plans: "I will so control the minds under my power that God's Sabbath shall be a special object of contempt. A sign? - I will make the observance of the seventh day a sign of disloyalty to the authorities of earth. Human laws will be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath." (Prophets and Kings, p. 184) This is exactly a part of the plan as outlined by Rome at the very time when God raised up this Movement. Louis Veuiilot in his book, The Liberal Illusion, wrote: When the time comes and men realize that the social edifice must be rebuilt according to eternal standards, ... Catholics will arrange things to suit said standards.... They will make obligatory the religious observance of Sunday on behalf of the whole of society, and for its own good, revoking the permit for free-thinkers and Jews to celebrate, incognito. Monday or Saturday on their own account. (p. 63) The second is envisioned In the Pope's recent Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini. The emphasis "to ensure that civil legislation respects" the Christian's "duty to keep Sunday holy" is connected with the celebration of the Roman Eucharist. The next sentence reads - "In any case, they are obliged in conscience to arrange their Sunday rest in a way which allows them to take part In the Eucharist." (Par. 67) Why? "This mystery [the Eucharist] is the very center and culmination of Christian life. It is the 'source and the summit of all preaching of the Gospel...the center of the assembly of the faithful."' (Handbook for Today's Catholic, p. 34) And what is worshipped? A "day"? No! A piece of bread, a "what" declared to be a "who" - God incarnate by the word of the priest. Blasphemy! A further note on this point goes to the heart of Rome's objective. In explaining "How to Receive Communion," today's Catholic is told: Holy Communion may be received on the tongue or in the hand and may be given under the form of bread alone or under both species. When the minister of the Eucharist addresses the communicant with the words "The Body of Christ," "The Blood of Christ," the communicant responds, "Amen." When the minister raises the eucharistic bread or wine, this is the invitation for the communicant to make an Act of Faith, to express his or her belief in the Eucharist, to manifest a need and desire for the Lord, to accept the good news of Jesus' paschal mystery. A clear and meaningful "Amen" is your response to this invitation. In this way you profess your belief in the presence of Christ in the eucharistic bread and wine as well as in his Body, the Church. (ibid., p. 42) . . . As stated above to Rome a simple "amen" signifies not only one's acceptance of "Jesus' paschal mystery," but also one's "belief in" the Roman "Church," designated in the text just noted as "his kingdom"? . . . In his Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini, what the Pope did not say is as important to consider as what he did say. Gone were the proud boasts and challenges to Protestants. Nowhere did the Pope after setting forth the Sabbath as given in the Decalogue (Par. 16), challenge - "Who gave you the authority to tamper with the fourth?" - as was done in the Clifton Tracts. Nowhere did the Pope claim that the change in the day of worship was "a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters" as did the Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons in 1895. Now the voice of Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Vatican Council for Promoting Christian Unity, declares the Eucharist to be the "ultimate sign and seal." . . . "Sunday is coming," but let us not be so naive as to think that the devil is going to seek to accomplish his agenda in a way that will be openly obvious to the professed people of God. Christ has warned us that the delusions of the final crisis will be such that, if possible, "they shall deceive the very elect" (Matt. 24:24). Further, let it be understood that a "Sunday Law" per se, is not the "mark" or "sign" of anything. We have had "Sunday closing laws" among the legal statutes of various states and city ordinances regulating Sunday commerce on the community level. This is not the aspect of Sunday laws that should concern us. It is as Louis Veulliot defined such legislation that we should be watching. His call was for the "religious observance" of Sunday. This Involves the Eucharist in the end time crisis as has been stated in the recent Papal Apostolic Letter. The Centrality of Sunday for Christians of Today There are three factors which surface in the current emphasis of Sunday by Rome: 1) The day — "Making holy the Lord's day! (L'Osservatore Romano. 1 June 2005, p.1): 2) The Sunday Mass. the celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday, the worship of a presumed "creation' by man. Instead of the worship of the Creator on His day — the Sabbath: And 3) the use of the Eucharist to achieve the "unity" of Christendom under Rome. [For a full understanding, read the entire article] Laudato Si is a papal barrage of Roman Catholicism. The Pope has applied Roman Catholic dogma and doctrine to the whole world, and his legions will execute this dictat in due course. Given all that we know about this man: the circumstances which led to his election, his astounding popularity, his credentials in the charismatic movement, his obvious determination to achieve complete global unity of churches, religions, and political entities, this encyclical and all the events of this year (not least of all the events scheduled for his US visit in September) clearly signal that we are rapidly approaching the climax of this world's history. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered [followed] after the beast. (Rev. 13:3) In the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke4:21b):- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis and the revolution in Vatican foreign policy A Vatican conference this week drew mayors from cities across the globe to discuss climate change and modern slavery. The event marked a new turn in Pope Francis’s evolution as a global leader — and as the rare pope with an activist foreign policy. . . The idea of a pope inviting some 60 elected officials to Rome for speeches, dinners and backchannel talk is a twist on the tradition of Vatican aides deciding who among governors, mayors and parliamentarians visiting Rome will have audiences or a private Mass with the pope. A photograph with His Holiness stays on your wall forever. "This intervention by the pope is appropriate and absolutely essential to wake people up to the dangers of climate change and to the value of seeing human beings as part of nature and dependent on nature,” California Governor Jerry Brown, who also attended the gathering, told Catholic News Service. . . Interfaith leaders welcome Pope Francis A group of interfaith leaders are welcoming Pope Francis to the United States. In a short July 27 letter sent directly to the pope at the Vatican, the religious leaders said their work on behalf of social justice, inclusion and equality has been “renewed by your clarity of vision and your bold statement of the truth of the needs of our time.” “We know that we all need to be called to a change of heart and we are so grateful for raising up that call,” the letter said. Noting that the pope will address Congress Sept. 24 on the last day of his visit to Washington before heading to New York and Philadelphia, the leaders said they were eagerly anticipating the pontiff’s visit. “As people of faith we look forward to your message and are eager to share it with members of our various faiths and denominations. Our nation needs to hear your word of hope and challenge,” the leaders said. . . They joined leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups including National Council of Churches, USA, Lutheran Services in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Islamic Society of North America, Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, and Unitarian Universalist Association. Could we sound a more clarion warning that the final events are upon us than the Roman Catholic author of this article has done?:- From [D]@gmail.com: Preaching Pope Francis’s Politics May Be the Key to Becoming President To get elected in 1960, John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, was forced to tell the nation that he wouldn’t take orders from the pope. In 2016, no such separation will be needed. With a record number of Catholics seeking the presidency and the wildly popular Pope Francis visiting the nation this fall, many candidates—Catholic or not—are seeking ways to tie themselves to the mission and vision of this Argentinian pontiff. The times have changed. With a Catholic vice president, six Catholic Supreme Court justices, a Catholic Speaker of the House, and a large number of Catholics in Congress, the golden age of Catholicism in American politics has arrived. This would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago. Kennedy was the first Catholic president. Irish-Catholic Al Smith likely lost the 1928 campaign because of his religion. This ascendency of Catholics to the forefront of American politics has only been accelerated by the groundbreaking papacy of Francis. His September trip to the U.S. will be a major event of the 2016 presidential primaries. . . . If polling data released Thursday showing support for Pope Francis’s messages is any indication, following the way of Francis isn’t just a ticket to heaven but maybe to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, too. Note this hyperlink within the article. The present astonishing state of affairs may seem to be sudden because Protestants have been asleep for decades, AND have finally succumbed to Roman Catholic Propaganda. In fact there has been a calculated campaign of over a century's duration to bring about Rome's present ascendancy, which is now irreversible. The Image to the Beast is formed, make no mistake about it, and the final events of this world's history cannot be long in coming. Watch the events in Palestine connected with the Vatican's Jerusalem policy. When Dan. 11:45 is fulfilled, the next event is the close of probation (Dan. 12:1.) And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered [followed] after the beast. (Rev. 13:3) In the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke4:21b):- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis and the revolution in Vatican foreign policy A Vatican conference this week drew mayors from cities across the globe to discuss climate change and modern slavery. The event marked a new turn in Pope Francis’s evolution as a global leader — and as the rare pope with an activist foreign policy. . . The idea of a pope inviting some 60 elected officials to Rome for speeches, dinners and backchannel talk is a twist on the tradition of Vatican aides deciding who among governors, mayors and parliamentarians visiting Rome will have audiences or a private Mass with the pope. A photograph with His Holiness stays on your wall forever. "This intervention by the pope is appropriate and absolutely essential to wake people up to the dangers of climate change and to the value of seeing human beings as part of nature and dependent on nature,” California Governor Jerry Brown, who also attended the gathering, told Catholic News Service. . . Interfaith leaders welcome Pope Francis A group of interfaith leaders are welcoming Pope Francis to the United States. In a short July 27 letter sent directly to the pope at the Vatican, the religious leaders said their work on behalf of social justice, inclusion and equality has been “renewed by your clarity of vision and your bold statement of the truth of the needs of our time.” “We know that we all need to be called to a change of heart and we are so grateful for raising up that call,” the letter said. Noting that the pope will address Congress Sept. 24 on the last day of his visit to Washington before heading to New York and Philadelphia, the leaders said they were eagerly anticipating the pontiff’s visit. “As people of faith we look forward to your message and are eager to share it with members of our various faiths and denominations. Our nation needs to hear your word of hope and challenge,” the leaders said. . . They joined leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups including National Council of Churches, USA, Lutheran Services in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Islamic Society of North America, Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, and Unitarian Universalist Association. On Friday, June 26, the US Supreme Court delivered a ruling that gay couples have a fundamental right to marry. This decision was not made in a vacuum. A revolution in public opinion on gay rights has been taking place in the United States during the last decade, and this is closely related to changing attitudes within the Christian Churches:- The Quiet Gay-Rights Revolution in America's Churches For most gay Americans in the 20th century, the church was a place of pain. It cast them out and called them evil. It cleaved them from their families. It condemned their love and denied their souls. In 2004, a president was elected when religious voters surged from their pews to vote against the legal recognition of gay relationships. When it came to gay rights, religion was the enemy. A decade later, the story is very different. Congregations across the country increasingly accept, nurture, and even marry their gay brethren. Polls show majorities of major Christian denominations -- including American Catholics, despite their church's staunch opposition -- support legal gay marriage. Leaders of some of the most conservative sects, like the Southern Baptists, have moved away from the vitriolic rhetoric of yesteryear and toward a more compassionate tone. Mormons march in gay-pride parades. A sitting Republican senator, a Methodist from the heartland state of Ohio, says the question was settled for him by "the Bible's overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God." A new pope says, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" . . . In 2003, the head of New York's largest gay-rights group, the Empire State Pride Agenda, had a realization. If gays were the only people who cared about gay rights, they would lose. "In Albany, who do legislators listen to?" Alan van Capelle asked his fellow activists at a dinner at the Sheraton in Manhattan. "Corporations, labor unions, and people of faith. If we can win their support, we can win the issue." Out of this epiphany came three campaigns, dubbed "Pride in My Workplace," "Pride in Our Union," and "Pride in the Pulpit." Van Capelle, a former labor organizer, set out to build "an army of unusual allies." The pulpit campaign began with a single organizer who rounded up a handful of supportive clergymembers. They crisscrossed the state talking to priests, pastors, and laypeople. "Somewhere in your congregation, there is a parent of a child who's just come out, looking to be comforted," they told them. "There's a gay or lesbian kid struggling with their identity and looking for leadership." To many clergy, it rang true. Even when clergy members weren't receptive, the activists went to the congregations, drawing support from the rank and file. How weak were the churches which could so easily be turned away from the clear teachings of the Bible by this diabolical strategy! As so often in the past, without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the true gospel of Jesus Christ, the world was able to increase its influence within the ranks of the leadership and congregations. By their corruption of Truth, the churches have lost the power of God unto salvation, which is the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16.) Lost is the salvation from sin, including the lusts of the flesh, by the God Who is also the conquering Son of Man. The churches' loss of "the power of God unto salvation" is plunging the world into ever deepening darkness, because of the rejection of the Bible's condemnation of sin. There are even those who claim that Jesus Christ did not condemn homosexuality: “Jesus Didn’t Condemn Homosexuality” (Cited without endorsement of any theological positions on other pages of this website which are in conflict with those of adventistlaymen.com.) Finally, it must be considered that Jesus did, in fact, speak against homosexuality. On numerous occasions, Jesus condemned the sins of adultery (Matthew 19:18), sexual immorality (Matthew 19:9) and fornication (Matthew 15:19). These terms describe any type of sexual intercourse that is not within the confines of a marriage ordained by God. Jesus then proceeded to define exactly what God views as a morally permissible marriage. He stated: Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate (Matthew 19:4-6). By defining marriage as between one male and one female, Jesus effectively condemned all other arrangements, including but not limited to one man and two women, one woman and two men, three men and one woman, three men and three women, one man and one man, one woman and one animal, etc. You can see the overwhelming logic of such. For Jesus to have to explicitly condemn every assortment of genders and numbers would be absurd. When He defined marriage between one man and one woman, He clearly showed that such an arrangement is the only one authorized by God. Rev. 16:13-14 describes the spirits of devils who are gathering the whole world to "the battle of that great day of God Almighty," coming like frogs out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. It is worthy of note that the beast and the false prophet both oppose the LGBT movement. The devil has reserved to himself the promotion of these lifestyles. Overlooked by many who tend to blame God for every adversity that is experienced by mankind, is the fact that as Satan hates God so also he harbors a deep hatred of humanity. Thus the persecution, degrading, and debasement of humanity is an integral part of his spiritual warfare against the Godhead: Man was the crowning act of the creation of God, made in the image of God, and designed to be a counterpart of God; but Satan has labored to obliterate the image of God in man, and to imprint upon him his own image. {LHU 48.2} Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came to lift us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory. {DA 37.3} It is reasonable to assume that if the Seventh-day Adventist Church had remained faithful to its sacred trust it would have been overwhelmingly immune to the infiltration of strange theologies and ideologies into its ranks. However, doctrinal and organizational apostasies, and alliance with the world and apostate Christendom, have left the Church without the protection of the Holy Spirit. The strange theologies and ideologies which have overwhelmed apostate churches, are also making inroads into the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Homosexuality in the Church: Should This "Born-a-Gay" Lifestyle Be Baptized? Almost two decades ago, a former dean of the Theological Seminary at Andrews University perceptively noted: "The gay crisis has come to church. Some homosexuals are coming to church not only for forgiveness and mercy but to say to the church, as they have to the world, `Homosexuality is not sinful; it is natural to me. God made me this way. He accepts me and my homosexuality as good. Therefore the time has come for the church to accept me as I am and join me in saying that gayness is good.'" The above statement aptly captures the essence of the "born-a-gay gospel" and its varied "ministries" or "support groups." Though advocates of this gospel employ the term "ministry" to describe their "outreach" to gay and lesbians, such "ministries" for the most part do not teach homosexuals to repent of their particular sin. Instead, they suggest that the church itself must be "educated" to own up to its "immoral" past, when it failed to "understand" and recognize homosexuality as a morally legitimate lifestyle. Regrettably, an increasing number of Christians are uncritically embracing this new "gospel." Even in our own Seventh-day Adventist church the attitudes of some are changing on the issue of homosexuality. We may find evidence for this change in Adventist discussions on the Internet, in written declarations by some scholars, in discussions at annual professional meetings of the church's Bible teachers, in some carefully written, yet troubling, articles in our church publications, and in the mumblings, if not deafening silence, from our pulpits. Discussions at the last two General Conference sessions (Indianapolis, Indiana, 1990, and Utrecht, the Netherlands, 1995) over the innocuous wording of certain portions of the Church Manual also reflect this shifting mood. There are pastors and teachers who have not remained silent about the erosion of moral standards within the Church (E.g. "Homosexuality in the Church. . . " above.) They are speaking up and writing about the "Queer Theology," and "Emerging church," phenomena, among other aberrations, which are invading the Church. What has been left out in the abridgement of Ellen G. White's "Great Controversy" into "The Great Hope" has been exposed. However, as Elder Wm. H. Grotheer pointed out in WWN 1(87,) these pastors and teachers are plucking leaves from the "tree" while failing to examine the "roots," and why the leaves are deformed. They either fail to recognize the significance of the course of history in the Seventh-day Adventist Church since the SDA-Evangelical conferences of 1955-1956, or they approve of the doctrinal changes and the unholy alliances that have been made; but these are the very causes of the spiritual decline in the Church. The first, second, and third angels' messages are to be repeated. The call is to be given to the church: "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. . . . Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Many who went forth to meet the Bridegroom under the messages of the first and second angels, refused the third, the last testing message to be given to the world, and a similar position will be taken when the last call is made. N.B. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has not become Babylon, but she has voluntarily gone into Balylonian captivity. The hierarchy of the Church of Rome exudes confidence that the United States is safely in her clutches, never to escape this side of eternity:- From [D]@google.com: Pope Francis to use popemobile in D.C., visiting as 'a pastor' Pope Francis will use his popemobile during his three-day visit to Washington, D.C., where he will be the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress on Sept. 24. In a news conference Tuesday about the visit, for which the Vatican released Francis' schedule, Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl stressed Francis is visiting "not as a politician, but as a pastor.". . . Pope Francis' U.S. visit includes White House stop to 'continue the dialogue' The White House confirmed Thursday that it will welcome Pope Francis on Sept. 23. The stop takes place during the popular 78-year-old prelate's Sept. 22 to 27 U.S visit. The Argentinian born Francis, who is said to have a good command of English, is scheduled to address Congress, as well as the United Nations, during the visit, and to be in Philadelphia a day after the conclusion of the Vatican's World Meeting of Families Congress. "During the visit," the White House statement said, "the President and the Pope will continue the dialogue, which they began during the President's visit to the Vatican in March 2014, on their shared values and commitments on a wide range of issues, including caring for the marginalized and the poor; advancing economic opportunity for all; serving as good stewards of the environment; protecting religious minorities and promoting religious freedom around the world; and welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities. The President looks forward to continuing this conversation with the Holy Father during his first visit to the United States as Pope." . . . Presidents George W. Bush [cf. Returning to the Washington Post . . .] and Jimmy Carter [cf. In 1967 . . .] are said to be the only other American presidents to receive a pope at the White House. Pope John Paul II came to Washington on Oct. 6, 1979, and Benedict XVI visited the Bush White House in April of 2008. A history of papal visits by U.S. presidents President George W. Bush traveled to the Vatican more than any other American president. John Paul II first received President Bush on May 28, 2002. In June of 2004, Bush presented Pope John Paul II with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the Vatican. It was the last time Pope John Paul II would receive an American president before his death in 2005. President Bush also visited Pope Benedict XVI while in office, both in June 2007 and June 2008. Papal trips: both “pastoral visits” and “state visits” On his travels John Paul II took the advantages of being a visiting head of state and a religious leader, just as the Holy See exploits its dual status as country and church. He used his "state visits" paid for by his hosts, for "pastoral visits" where he evangelised at his World Youth Days, issued "moral guidance" on proposed laws and reined in "liberation theologians". . . The Vatican’s triple crown: church, government and state “The Vatican is inserted into the international community because it is a state; once there, it behaves like a church.” By setting up three legal identities and then adroitly switching from one to another, the Vatican has obtained unprecedented legal rights and international influence. . . In recent years the Holy See has, when convenient, both asserted and renounced its statehood. Recently, and nearly simultaneously, the Holy See claimed statehood to ask for diplomatic immunity from sex abuse cases in the United States while denying statehood to refuse cooperation with the International Criminal Court. Often, when denying its state status, the Holy See instead claims to be a religious institution, accompanied by demands that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution protect the actions of the church after claims that members of the hierarchy mismanaged allegations of sexual abuse." This is an institution which claims to be the true church of Christ! Rev. 13:2(last part) exposes the fraud. As to the United States, the vision of Pope Leo XIII has been realized. Although the goal of ecumenical unity is substantially achieved in the Christian world, Rome is still busily engaged in removing the remaining obstacles and sealing up bonds already forged. The Eucharist remains a joint to be sealed, and it is not being ignored:- From [D]@gmail.com: WCC, Roman Catholic joint group celebrates 50 years of ecumenical work “The World Council of Churches (WCC) is grateful for new momentum in collective efforts to manifest our common faith in God the creator and our commitment to common service,” said the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, as he spoke at the 50th anniversary gathering of a joint WCC-Roman Catholic group. . . He turned to areas where more work on Christian unity is needed. “Looking at the present state of the ecumenical landscape and the world at large, we have to confess that divisions among Christians are there, that we are not sharing the gifts of the Triune God and the fruits of the works of our hands through the holy Eucharistic fellowship.” While common purpose has been achieved between Roman Catholics and those in WCC member churches on baptism, the Roman Catholic Church does not allow shared Eucharist. Catholics and Disciples of Christ conclude meeting on Eucharist The Disciples of Christ, often known simply as ‘The Christian Church’, concluded an ecumenical encounter with members of the Catholic Church in the United States this week. The meeting of the International Dialogue Commission took place from June 19th to 24th at the historic Bethany College in West Virginia, established by one of the 19th century founders of the Disciples of Christ, Alexander Campbell. This fifth phase of the dialogue, which began back in 1979, is focused on the theme ‘Christians formed and transformed by the Eucharist’. The treaty between the Vatican and the "State of Palestine" first announced in May, 2015, has now been signed. Israel is angry, but what can she do except slow down the inexorable march of events towards fulfillment of Dan. 11:45:- From [D]@gmail.com: Vatican signs first treaty with 'State of Palestine,' backs two-state solution Israel expressed “regret” at the Vatican's decision to recognize the Palestinian Authority as a state and the signing of the accord, hinting it could have implications for future cooperation between Israel and the Vatican. “This hasty step damages the prospects for advancing a peace agreement, and harms the international effort to convince the PA to return to direct negotiations with Israel,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement said that Israel also regrets “the one sided texts in the agreement which ignore the historic rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and the places holy to Judaism in Jerusalem.” Israel, the statement read, “cannot accept the unilateral determinations in the agreement which do not take into account Israel's essential interests and the special historic status of the Jewish people in Jerusalem.” Vatican Formally Recognizes Palestinian State by Signing Treaty The Vatican on Friday signed a treaty with the “state of Palestine,” a development that the church hopes will lead to improved relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Vatican signs first treaty with 'State of Palestine', Israel angered The Vatican signed its first treaty with the "State of Palestine" on Friday, calling for "courageous decisions" to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and backing a two-state solution. The treaty, which made official the Vatican's de facto recognition of Palestine since 2012, angered Israel, which called it "a hasty step (that) damages the prospects for advancing a peace agreement". Israel also said it could have implications on its future diplomatic relations with the Vatican. . . . Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, said at the signing that he hoped it could be a "stimulus to bringing a definitive end to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which continues to cause suffering for both parties". He called for peace negotiations held directly between Israelis and Palestinians to resume and lead to a two-state solution. "This certainly requires courageous decisions, but it will also offer a major contribution to peace and stability in the region," he said. . . The Vatican is particularly keen to have a greater diplomatic role in the Middle East, from where many Christians have fled because of conflicts in Syria, Iraq and other countries. . . The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2012 recognizing Palestine as an observer non-member state. This was welcomed at the time by the Vatican, which has the same observer non-member status at the United Nations. Since then the Vatican has de facto recognized a "State of Palestine" and the pope referred to it by that name when he visited the Holy Land last year. Some 135 members of the United Nations recognize Palestine, nearly 70 percent of the total. By comparison, 160 of the UN's 193 members recognize Israel. Last October, Sweden became the first major European country to acknowledge Palestine, a decision that drew condemnation from Israel and has since led to tense relations between the two. Contrary to the Israeli Foreign Ministry statement the Vatican does not act hastily, and must have anticipated Israel's negative reaction. This is basically a hostile action designed to force Israeli co-operation. Israel is threatened with increasing isolation. There is a saying that "When the big wind blows, the tree must bend or break." An article on the Ten Commandments being written on the heart, in the Pacific Union Recorder for March, 2006, caused John V. Stevens, Sr., long-serving Religious Liberty leader, to write a letter to the Editor. Elder Stevens had detected some of the wine of Roman Babylon in the article:- From [I]@yahoo.com: Here is the entire text of the letter: Having served the Pacific Union Conference for 20 years as PARL director, I naturally was interested in the Ten Commandments being written in the heart. Ten Commandments issues mentioned were abortion, marriage, divorce, and homosexuality,” Many people view abortion as killing, therefore a Ten Commandments issue. However, nowhere in Scripture are we told that abortion is a crime, or killing, or even a sin. We have been subtly conditioned by religious propaganda from the fundamentalists. The abortion issue is the catalyst that will establish religion in our nation and then everything else will follow. Only two passages in the Scriptures deal with an induced miscarriage. Exodus chapter 21 treats the fetus as property and one causing the accidental miscarriage is required to pay a fine. If a fetus were a person, it would be a manslaughter charge. The other passage is the trial of jealousy in Numbers chapter 5. In that passage, the husband suspects his wife is pregnant by infidelity and God gave a law requiring the suspected wife to go through a procedure that causes an abortion if she is guilty and pregnant. If she is innocent, nothing happens to her. E.G. White never touched the subject in spite of the raging controversy on abortion in the latter 19th century. We need to guard against letting our national religious culture change us, for a day is coming when Sunday worship and Sabbath desecration will be national religious culture with heavy penalties for non-conformists. John V. Stevens, Sr. Surprise, Ariz. The warning in this letter was prescient, and is as timely as ever. In the abortion controversy those who, on the basis of Roman Catholic manipulation of the Scriptures [cf. "Certain Bible texts,"] are at war with a woman's legal right to exercise freedom of choice, are winning the hearts and minds of millions, including many, many, well-meaning Seventh-day Adventists. Here are reports from both sides of the issue: Pro-Life Movement is Winning the Abortion Battle: 300 Pro-Life Bills Filed This Session The Hill reports that more than a dozen states have passed pro-life bills in at least one chamber; and Arizona, Idaho, West Virginia and Arkansas have all passed bills in both chambers. In a statement, the Guttmacher Institute said that the trend toward these two policies reflects “a disturbing combination of attempts to curtail access in both the early and later months of pregnancy. The laws could ultimately deprive women of options and leave them with “a greatly reduced time frame to get the care they need.” 3 Signs That We’re Winning The Abortion Battle This is what a losing battle looks like, folks. Oh, the road to victory is long, and I expect it may get worse before it gets better — we have a government that couldn’t care less about the consent of the governed after all — but the American people are, I hope, finally waking up. When people begin really pushing back on late term abortions, it’s going to be a lot easier to impose restrictions and enhance the definitions of personhood. . . But another phenomenon that paints a less hopeful picture for reproductive rights supporters also exists. Though the rate of passage for restrictive laws has slowed down this year, in certain states, this is because much of the damage has already been done. In these states, it seems, the pro-life movement is winning. Reproductive rights were one of many issues for which the 2010 midterms served as a turning point, thanks to the wave of newly elected conservative state legislators taking office around the country. “We’ve seen 226 abortion restrictions enacted over the past four years,” Elizabeth Nash, State Issues Manager at Guttmacher, told me. “That speaks to some states enacting multiple restrictions, and perhaps the urgency in some of those states to adopt further restrictions is just not there.” In other words, the pace of anti-abortion legislation has slowed down not because the movement has stalled, but because they’ve already got much of what they want. The current state of affairs is not just a victory for the Fundamentalists; it is a victory for the USCCB's Pastoral Plan and the Roman Catholic agenda in the United States and the world! But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matt. 15:9. Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change has been published. It is recognized as a mixture of theology and science. In one Roman Catholic publication it is described as "not a work about the environment, or economics, or political theory – rather, it is theology." The Pope has harnessed a real crisis in the physical world for the advancement of the papal Magisterium - diabolically clever! Mark how the encyclical is being received:- Pope Francis, in Sweeping Encyclical, Calls for Swift Action on Climate Change Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, blending a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action. . . The Vatican released the encyclical at noon on Thursday, three days after an Italian magazine posted a leaked draft online, to the fury of Vatican officials. The breach led to speculation that opponents of Francis in the Vatican wanted to embarrass him by undermining the release. Even so, religious figures, environmentalists, scientists, executives and elected officials around the world awaited the official release, and scheduled news conferences or issued statements afterward. News media interest was enormous, in part because of Francis’ global popularity, but also because of the intriguing coalition he is proposing between faith and science. Francis has made it clear that he hopes the encyclical will influence energy and economic policy and stir a global movement. He calls on ordinary people to press politicians for change. Catholic bishops and priests around the world are expected to discuss the encyclical in services on Sunday. But Francis is also reaching for a wider audience, asking in the document “to address every person living on this planet.” There are already some good initial appraisals of the letter. I simply want to draw attention to one thing the Holy Father writes early on (section 15): “It is my hope that this encyclical letter, which is now added to the body of the Church’s social teaching, can help us to acknowledge the appeal, immensity and urgency of the challenge we face.” The letter is therefore in the tradition of papal encyclicals, beginning with Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum in 1891, right up to Benedict XVI’s last encyclical from 2009, Caritas in Veritate (a very important text which Pope Francis liberally quotes). . . This encyclical, deep and astute in so many ways, is not a work about the environment, or economics, or political theory – rather, it is theology. The Church teaches that Catholic social teaching is simply a branch of moral theology: papal social encyclicals like Laudato Si’ are part of the ordinary Magisterium of the Church. Vatican II’s great constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, makes it clear that the faithful are to adhere to all this teaching “with religious assent” (section 25). What this means is that while the Church does allow for divergent viewpoints on some issues (Laudato Si’ 61), we are simply not free to dissent from the teaching of this encyclical, any more than we are free to dissent from Catholic teaching about other moral issues. Our duty as Catholics is to learn about what the Holy Father has said and share it with others. Obama calls for world leaders to heed Pope Francis’s message “I welcome His Holiness Pope Francis’s encyclical, and deeply admire the Pope’s decision to make the case – clearly, powerfully, and with the full moral authority of his position – for action on global climate change,” he said. “As we prepare for global climate negotiations in Paris this December, it is my hope that all world leaders and all God’s children will reflect on Pope Francis’s call to come together to care for our common home. . . Also echoing Obama’s sentiment was the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon. . . And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered [followed] after the beast. Rev. 13:3 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. Rev. 13:11-12. The condemnation already being expressed against those who refuse to follow after the beast of Rev. 13:1-3 (i.e. being separate and apart from the ecumenical movement) will ultimately be a judicial pronouncement of guilt and condemnation to death for not conforming with a religious decree:- The devil knows Christians are one, says Pope Francis While Christians may think of themselves as divided into different churches and denominations, the devil actually sees that they are one in their faith in Jesus, Pope Francis said in a video message to a Christian unity celebration in Phoenix. “Division is the work of the ‘Father of Lies,’ ‘the Father of Discord,’ who does everything possible to keep us divided,” the Pope said on Saturday in the message to the gathering sponsored by the John 17 Movement.
“I feel like saying something that may sound
controversial, or even heretical, perhaps,” he said
in Cf. The oneness for which Jesus Christ prayed. The Vatican and the US have signed an intergovernmental agreement for the first time in history. Such an agreement with the Holy See became possible because of an event that should never have happened in the history of a nation whose Constitution was once a guarantee of separation of church and state:- From [D]@gmail.com: Holy See and United States Sign Historic Agreement to Fight Offshore Tax Evasion In remarks delivered at the signing ceremony on Wednesday morning in the Vatican, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, explained in more detail the significance of the intergovernmental agreement with the United States. Addressing the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, he said: Mr. Ambassador, At the outset, let me welcome you and your delegation to the Secretariat of State on the occasion of the signing of the Agreement between the Holy See, Acting Also in the Name and on Behalf of the Vatican City State, and the United States of America to Improve International Tax Compliance and to Implement the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”). The signing of this agreement is unquestionably an historic event. This is in fact the first time that the Holy See and the United States of America have concluded a formal intergovernmental agreement, thus raising to an even higher level the broad cooperation and friendship that already exist between the Apostolic See and the Government of the United States. What made this intergovernmental agreement possible was the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the United States in 1984. The desire of Rome since the founding of the American Republic was finally accomplished during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. The year 2004 marked the publication of a book by a former US Ambassador to the Holy See, Roman Catholic Jim Nicholson "THE UNITED STATES AND THE HOLY SEE: THE LONG ROAD" is a history of US-Holy See relations from 1788. It is an astonishing account of US governmental relations with the Vatican from the founding of the nation. One of the paragraphs in the book describing the opposition to Reagan's decision to establish diplomatic relations with the Vatican is an object lesson in the fulfillment of prophecy related to receiving the lies of the "man of sin." Here indeed was the "strong delusion" predicted by the Apostle Paul in 2 Thess. 2:10-12: By far the most outspoken critics were Protestant religious groups. Jerry Falwell, a fundamentalist preacher and former leader of the now defunct Moral Majority, lambasted Reagan’s decision to send an ambassador to the Vatican saying, "A bad precedent is being set. I wonder when Mecca will want one [an ambassador]. I told the White House if they give one to the Pope, I may ask for one." James Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, denounced Reagan’s decision as "a dumb, bungling move by an Administration that doesn’t seem to understand the first lesson about church-state relations." These were the very people catapulting the Roman Catholic Church and her teachings into pre-eminence in the United States of America, thereby destroying the separation of church and state! Pope Leo XIII, in an encyclical letter, Immortale Dei, Nov. 1, 1885, stated. "Sad it is to call to mind how the harmful and lamentable rage for innovations which rose to a climax in the sixteenth century, spread amongst all classes of society. From this source, as from a fountain-head, burst forth all those later tenets of unbridled license. Amongst these principles the main one lays down that as all men are alike by race and nature that each is free to think on every subject just as he may choose. In a society grounded upon such maxims, all government is nothing more nor less than the will of the people. (Quoted in Facts of Faith, p.256) Furthermore, on January 6, 1895, Leo XIII released an encyclical letter in which he stated, "It would be very erroneous to draw the conclusion that in America is to be sought the type of the most desirable status of the Church, or that it would be universally lawful or expedient for state and church to be, as in America, dissevered and divorced. . . (Quoted in Facts of Faith, p. 257). It would be a serious mistake to suppose that these statements, made over one hundred years ago, have no bearing on the events of recent years in the United States. The Church of Rome pursues long objectives, and what Leo XIII stated at the end of the nineteenth century has been a blueprint for Roman Catholic activism in America ever since then, with an astonishing acceleration since Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980, a very significant date! Now an incredible prediction about Pope Francis' visit to the United States in September, 2015, is made by the Jesuit magazine America:- From [I]@yahoo.com: Liberal Academic Says America’s Founding Document Outmoded Top Vatican adviser Jeffrey Sachs says that when Pope Francis visits the United States in September, he will directly challenge the “American idea” of God-given rights embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Sachs, a special advisor to the United Nations and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a media superstar who can always be counted on to pontificate endlessly on such topics as income inequality and global health. This time, writing in a Catholic publication, he may have gone off his rocker, revealing the real global game plan. The United States, Sachs writes in the Jesuit publication, America, is “a society in thrall” to the idea of unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But the “urgent core of Francis’ message” will be to challenge this “American idea” by “proclaiming that the path to happiness lies not solely or mainly through the defense of rights but through the exercise of virtues, most notably justice and charity.” In these extraordinary comments, which constitute a frontal assault on the American idea of freedom and national sovereignty, Sachs has made it clear that he hopes to enlist the Vatican in a global campaign to increase the power of global or foreign-dominated organizations and movements. . . The Sachs view is that global organizations such as the U.N. must dictate the course of nations and individual rights must be sacrificed for the greater good. One aspect of this unfolding plan, as outlined in the Sachs book, The End of Poverty, involves extracting billions of dollars from the American people through global taxes. . . In preparation for this direct assault on our rights, the American nation-state, and our founding document, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon told a Catholic Caritas International conference in Rome on May 12 that climate change is “the defining challenge of our time,” and that the solution lies in recognizing that “ humankind is part of nature, not separate or above.” The pope’s expected encyclical on climate change is supposed to help mobilize the governments of the world in this crusade. (Cf. A Call to Virtue; A Planetary Pope.) The catch with this article is that it takes a stand with those who deny the reality of climate change. The danger to the world is that the Vatican is harnessing a genuine crisis to advance the goal of papal supremacy. Has Jeffrey Sachs "gone off his rocker," or will Pope Francis openly challenge "the 'American idea' of God-given rights embodied in the Declaration of Independence?" It seems unlikely that the Pope would directly challenge the language of the Declaration of Independence. This would likely provoke a negative reaction from the major part of Rome's political base in America, which is already opposed to the Vatican's position on climate change. Such a challenge also attacks the US Constitution and the First Amendment guarantee of separation of church and state. It is well-documented that this has been the long goal of the Church of Rome. This could be heard as a warning shot across the bow of the great ship United States of America. The contributor of the above article correctly points out that "the final movements will be rapid ones," as prophecy points to the ultimate fulfillment of the papacy's goals. We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones. (9T, p 11) It is philosophy, which the Church of Rome has elevated above the Bible, that has spawned theological dogmas and socio-political ideologies devoid of realism and practicality. Thus Rome advocates, seeks the passage of, and enforces where she has the power, laws which are inimical to her declared socio-economic objectives. Pope on the Powerful: ‘God Will Call Them to Judgment’ Pope Francis warned the rich and powerful on Tuesday that God will judge them on whether they fed the poor and cared for the Earth, his latest exhortation on the environment ahead of his eagerly-awaited encyclical on climate change and its effects on the world’s most vulnerable. . . In his homily, Francis said the planet has enough food to feed the world but “it seems that there is a lack of willingness to share it with everyone.” “We must do what we can so that everyone has something to eat. But we must also remind the powerful of the Earth that God will call them to judgment one day,” he said. “And there it will be revealed if they really tried to provide for him in every person, and if they did what they could to preserve the environment so that it could produce this food.” Pope says environmental sinners will face God's judgment for world hunger Pope Francis has warned “the powerful of the Earth” they will answer to God if they fail to protect the environment to ensure the world can feed its population. “The planet has enough food for all, but it seems that there is a lack of willingness to share it with everyone,” Francis said at a mass to mark the opening of the general assembly of the Catholic charitable organisation Caritas.
“We must do what we can so that everyone has
something to eat, but we must also remind the
powerful of the Earth that God will call them to
judgment one day and there it will be revealed if
Pope Francis is unwittingly holding a mirror up before the papacy itself: The Catholic Church is the Biggest Financial Power on Earth “The Vatican has large investments with the Rothschilds of Britain, France and America, with the Hambros Bank, with the Credit Suisse in London and Zurich. In the United States it has large investments with the Morgan Bank, the Chase-Manhattan Bank, the First National Bank of New York, the Bankers Trust Company, and others. “The Vatican has billions of shares in the most powerful international corporations such as Gulf Oil, Shell, General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, General Electric, International Business Machines, T.W.A., etc.” (...) . . . “But this is just a small portion of the wealth of the Vatican, which in the U.S. alone, is greater than that of the five wealthiest giant corporations of the country. When to that is added all the real estate, property, stocks and shares abroad, then the staggering accumulation of the wealth of the Catholic church becomes so formidable as to defy any rational assessment.” (...) “The Catholic church is the biggest financial power, wealth accumulator and property owner in existence. She is a greater possessor of material riches than any other single institution, corporation, bank, giant trust, government or state of the whole globe. “The pope, as the visible ruler of this immense amassment of wealth, is consequently the richest individual of the twentieth century. No one can realistically assess how much he is worth in terms of billions of dollars.” (...) [One cannot agree with the author's repudiation of all religion. The Church of Rome has tarnished Christianity in the eyes of a multitude of people] How Rich Is the Catholic Church? The main thing we know about Catholic Church finance is that in cash flow terms, the United States is by far the most important branch. America is a rich country with a large population of Catholics. What’s more, America’s Catholic population is a religious minority. That’s meant that, rather than using political clout to influence the shape of mainstream government institutions, as in an overwhelmingly Catholic country such as Brazil, the Catholic Church in the United States has created a parallel state: a vast web of schools, hospitals, universities, and charities that serve millions of clients. Our best window into the overall financial picture of American Catholicism comes from a 2012 investigation by the Economist, which offered a rough-and-ready estimate of $170 billion in annual spending, of which almost $150 billion is associated with church-affiliated hospitals and institutions of higher education. The operating budget for ordinary parishes, at around $11 billion a year, is a relatively small share, and Catholic Charities is a smaller share still.[One is reminded of the resolve to exploit the US Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC expressed by Catholic Online. The decision greatly enhanced the already excessive political influence of Roman Catholic activist organizations in America.] It is reasonable to presume that the prophecy of 2 Thess. 2:10-12 embraces ALL who are caught up in the mystery of iniquity (verse 7,) so God has sent the hierarchy of Rome "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." The Pope can preach the eradication of poverty and inequality until he is blue in the face, but the Roman Catholic Church is itself a hindrance to the effective relief of the poor and inequality in world. One cannot positively accuse Pope Francis of hypocrisy. He may be sincere, but must be deluded in his sincerity. He is blind to the many aspects of Roman Catholicism that contribute to poverty and inequality in the world. For example, on his January visit to the Philippines, he called for an end to the "scandalous social inequalities" in the Philippines: Pope urges Philippines to end 'scandalous' poverty "It is now, more than ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good," Francis said at the presidential palace, in his first speech since arriving in the Philippines on Thursday. . . He challenged "everyone, at all levels of society, to reject every form of corruption, which diverts resources from the poor." The 78-year-old Argentine, born Jorge Maria Bergoglio, said that the "great biblical tradition" obliged everyone to listen to the poor. "It bids us break the bonds of injustice and oppression which give rise to glaring, and indeed scandalous, social inequalities," Francis said. The catch is that Roman Catholic theological dogmas and socio-political ideologies are the primary cause of grinding poverty in the nation: Philippines birth control: Filipinos want it, priests don't This was not the life Naz wanted. She and her husband, who sells coconut drinks from a pushcart, agreed early in their marriage to stop at three children. Though a devout Catholic, she took birth control pills in defiance of priests' instructions at Sunday Mass. But after her third child was born, the mayor of Manila — with the blessing of Roman Catholic bishops — halted the distribution of contraceptives at public clinics to promote "a culture of life." The order put birth control pills and other contraceptives out of reach for millions of poor Filipinos, who could not afford to buy them at private pharmacies. "For us, the banning of the pills was ugly," Naz said. "We were the ones who suffered." At 36, she had more children than teeth, common for poor women after repeated pregnancies and breast-feeding. Catholic Church Out Of Step With 21st Century: Human Overpopulation, Human Misery In January, 2013, Philippine’s President Benigno Aquino signed into law a bill that provides free access for contraception and family planning for the poor of that country. While the bill made its way through the congress, the Catholic Church, still stuck in the 1st century, brought enormous leverage to defeat it. Never mind that most Catholic Church-dominated countries around the world suffer horrific poverty brought about by illiteracy and endless baby production. Examples abound in Haiti, Mexico and many South American countries. While the ecological systems of the Earth fray at the seams because of endless human population growth, the Catholic Church refuses to come to terms with overwhelming human fecundity in the 21st century. Because Catholics dominate the Philippines, it took the bill 14 years to pass. Ironically, poverty and maternal mortality continue with the highest birth rates in the region. The Roman Catholic Church repeatedly tried to block the bill. “The law is due to take effect in mid-January,” said presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte. “The passage into law of the Responsible Parenthood Act closes a highly divisive chapter of our history — a chapter borne of the convictions of those who argued for, or against this act. At the same time, it opens the possibility of co-operation and reconciliation… engagement and dialogue characterized not by animosity, but by our collective desire to better the welfare of the Filipino people.” But the incompetence and intrigue of the Vatican’s old men will attempt to derail the law. With the Church’s enormous financial power and “emotional” cowardice, it will harness bishops and other priests at the local levels to dissuade parishes to ignore the law. Even in the 21st century, the old men of the Vatican enjoy support from politicians, media and businessmen. Notice that women do not enjoy a say in the debate. It brings to mind a brilliant book Underdevelopment is a State of Mind by Lawrence E. Harrison. In it, he exposes how the Catholic Church undermines any kind of birth control and family planning wherever it maintains an emotional and religious grip around the minds and necks of the average people of any country. Thus, such countries as Haiti, suffer untold and eternal illiteracy and poverty because they cannot get out from under the burden of too many children and no way to educate, feed or provide jobs for them. Rome's policy on birth control is based on the dogmas of the Immortality of the Soul, and the Immaculate Conception. The reality that confronts the Church of Rome is that Roman Catholic countries are among the poorest in the world: Protestant v Catholic: which countries are more successful? If maps were shaded like balance sheets, the bottom part of mainland Europe would be deepest red. Italy, Spain and Portugal are heavily in debt. They are also Catholic countries. Their predominantly Protestant neighbours to the north, including Germany and Scandinavia, are in comparatively good shape financially. Is that simply a coincidence, or is Max Weber's theory about the Protestant ethic being intertwined with the spirit of capitalism still valid, over 100 years on? Dr Sascha Becker moved to Warwick University from Munich, where Weber finished his career as a sociologist. And his recent research leads him to suggest that religion is a factor in the budgetary discrepancies between the north and south of Europe. "There are plenty of other factors, too, and they're not easy to disentangle," concedes the deputy director of Warwick's Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy [Cage]. "But even data compiled as recently as 2000 suggests that Protestants generally are educated to a higher level than Catholics. They have a higher probability of going to university and finishing their course." The following Roman Catholic Question and Answer web page confirms and rationalizes the disparity in prosperity that exists between Protestant and Roman Catholic countries: Full Question If the Reformation was a rebellion, why has God blessed the English-speaking, Protestant countries with more freedom and prosperity than the Catholic countries have received? Does God bless apostasy and curse faithfulness? Answer English-speaking countries that are predominantly Protestant (Great Britain, America, Canada, Australia) have received a great deal of political freedom and material prosperity. But freedom and prosperity are not indicators that a person or a country is right with God. When it comes to freedom, some would say that the problem with these countries is that they have too much freedom. In the name of individual choice the citizens of United States have taken the lives of 30 million unborn children--five times the number of Jews that Hitler killed. The situations in Canada, England, and Australia are no better when it comes to abortion. . . South America is the perfect example of the discrepancy between Rome's preaching and the practice of poverty relief in Roman Catholic Countries: The Suffering Church Worldwide - The Americas The Church remains strong in Central and South America but continues to face political tensions, violence, extreme poverty, crime and loss of membership to competing sects. Open the last hyperlink, search for the word "poverty" (Control + F,) choose the "highlight all" option, and scroll down to get the glaring picture of the failure of Roman Catholicism to effectively combat "political tensions, violence, extreme poverty, crime" in Central and South America. The following article in a Roman Catholic publication specifically acknowledges that Catholicism' has failed the poor: What is wrong with the Church in Latin America? Then there is another matter, that the article in this paper highlights, the question of the ‘prosperity gospel’. This is not simply a question of pastors from American mega-churches telling people that Jesus will make them rich. If only it were so crude, and so easy to refute! It goes deeper than that, as I am sadly reminded every time I meet some of my Chilean Protestant relatives who [are] always keen to point out that in Chile the Catholic Church was the Church of the rich elite, and never lifted a finger for the poor masses, but told them that poverty was good for them. This raises a huge question about the Roman Catholic teachings about "social justice," of which the principle of "subsidiarity" is a major part: Subsidiarity refers to the appropriate balancing of responsibilities and functions among the parts of a social order. . . The ethic that pertains to the unity of the body is called solidarity. The ethic that pertains to the role of the parts is subsidiarity. And the good of the whole by which solidarity and subsidiarity are measured is called the common good. . . The modern history of subsidiarity in the 19th and early 20th centuries extends the etymological understanding. Current usage comes from German Catholic social thinking in the 19th century. Reform figures such as the renowned Bishop of Mainz, Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, developed an understanding of subsidiarity as part of a Catholic “third way” in political economy between dehumanizing extremes of socialism and capitalism. . . Much influenced by such thinking, Leo XIII in the Church’s most monumental statement of Catholic social teachings, Rerum novarum (1891), elaborated von Kettler’s third way balance of government and private initiative. Policies should be pursued at the level or mix most effective for the common good. Without explicit mention of subsidiarity, the great pontiff captured its essence in the encyclical when he offered his vision of the social order as a harmonious balance of its parts—Church, government, private enterprise, labor, management, and so on—each in its appropriate capacity and with its appropriate authority—i.e., each in accordance with what comes to be called the principle of subsidiarity. It will be noted that Roman Catholic "social order" envisions Rome's theology imposed on the body politic of nations. This in itself is a violation of the principle of separation of church and state. Furthermore, the question is why are Roman Catholic countries still struggling with endemic poverty two centuries after the concept of subsidiarity-solidarity began to be promoted by Rome? Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Roman Catholic activists have been hell-bent on forcing their conception of subsidiarity on the American nation - and they are making great progress. There is a huge debate within the Roman Catholic Church about whether the American (Republican Party) version is correct: Saving Subsidiarity Why it is not about small government Critics of the Ryan budget have argued that solidarity—the virtue that impels us to active concern for the needs of others—must be used to balance subsidiarity. While this argument is true, it gives too much away, for subsidiarity is an application of solidarity, not its opposite. Subsidiarity is not a principle of small government. It is a two-edged sword. Subsidiarity warns against the overbearing action of any large social actors and also demands that they render assistance, subsidium, when problems are too large to be handled by smaller, local actors. Subsidiarity envisions not a small government, but a strong, limited one that encourages intermediate bodies and organizations (families, community groups, unions, businesses) to contribute to the common good. It envisions a strong government that protects individuals and small intermediate bodies from the actions of large organizations—not just the state but corporations as well. Subsidiarity Transformed That Representative Ryan could publicly change his allegiance from Ayn Rand to Catholic social doctrine without changing his policies suggests something is terribly amiss. His confusion is the fruit of decades of work by Catholic thinkers serving in neoliberal (so-called “conservative”) think tanks of Washington, D.C., aiming to conscript Catholic social doctrine as an ally in their libertarian economic agenda. The debate around the Ryan budget shows they have effectively transformed the concept of subsidiarity into a principle of small government. While the Roman Catholics are having their argument, increasing suffering is being imposed on the needy in America by government austerity measures: Can Private Charity Replace the Social Safety Net? Could the amount of money donated to private charities cover the substitution cost for the social safety net? The short answer is: it’s not even close. As AEI president Arthur Brooks explains, It would be wonderful if America could solve all problems of poverty and need through private charity. We can and should give even more, and conservatives must continue to lead by example. But even in this remarkably charitable country—where voluntary giving alone exceeds the total GDP of nations such as Israel and Chile—private donations cannot guarantee anywhere near the level of assistance that vast majorities of Americans across the political spectrum believe is our moral duty. (Cf., in-depth study, The Conservative Myth of a Social Safety Net Built on Charity The right yearns for an era when churches and local organizations took care of society's weakest—an era that never existed and can't exist today.) The version of subsidiarity that the Republicans are legislating may or may not be a misrepresentation of the true principle; but it is a certainty that they are violating the separation of church and state guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. In the wake of the fallout from a belated realization that the Vatican had recognized a Palestinian State since 2012, an Israeli newspaper reflects on the ramifications:- From [D]@gmail.com: Diplomacy: The pope and the Palestinians When the Vatican’s first envoy arrived in Jerusalem in 1994, it was only due to years of John Paul II’s attempts to heal historic wounds with the Jews. He had recognized the Jewish people in addresses in 1984 and 1986, and spoken out against anti-Semitism. But the Palestinians always loomed for him as well. As the Vatican recognized Israel, it had been negotiating with the PLO – opening official relations with it as the “representative of the Palestinian people” in October 1994. This was the period of the Oslo Accords, and the Vatican likely felt it was an opportune time to establish ties with the Palestinian state in the making. . . Vatican policy on the “conflict” has transitioned through three distinct periods. Prior to the UN passing the Partition Plan in November 1947, the Vatican had lobbied for the international status of Jerusalem. Its first priority was protecting Catholic shrines in the Holy City, as well as in Bethlehem, Nazareth and other areas. Indeed, Pope Pius XII, in a publication called In multiplicibus curis, argued for Jerusalem to have an “international character...with international guarantees... freedom of access and worship at the holy places scattered throughout Palestine.” After the War of Independence, he maintained his support for an international status for the city, which had been envisioned in the UN Partition Plan. Pope John Paul II, remembered for establishing ties with Israel and reforming the church’s relationship with the Jewish people, met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat 12 times. . . The push for recognition of Palestine does not come in a vacuum. When Israel and the Vatican signed the 1993 agreement there were many issues, particularly related to property and taxation, which were supposed to be ironed out in a subsequent agreement. In January 2013, deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon told reporters, “We have overcome most, if not all, the outstanding issues that have prevented us from signing this agreement for so long.” Yet according to the church source that worked on the negotiations, there was a feeling on the Vatican side that the Israelis were not taking them seriously. “They fizzled out, they were going nowhere.” The Palestinians stepped into the breach and made it clear they were willing to give the Vatican the tax breaks and other property rights they wanted. “They were always willing to do the negotiation because of the diplomatic advantage,” the source asserts. “It isn’t about being chummy with the Palestinians, but getting them to protect church assets in a rule of law situation.”. . . The real message to the Foreign Ministry might be: It is time for Israel to come to the table and conclude its negotiations with the Vatican. The bottom line is that time is running out for Israel to come to terms with the inevitable. Events are marching inexorably towards fulfillment of the Daniel 11:45 prophecy. The Israeli government may yet voluntarily make the concessions that are vital to the fulfillment of Dan. 11:45, but this has become increasingly more difficult as the electorate has pushed it more to the right, and it enjoys the support of the Congress and the evangelical Christian Zionists in the USA. However, Rome has alternative avenues to achieve her goal, and has been working in tandem with the Palestinian Authority, which now vows to "internationalize" the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis:- From [D]@gmail.com: Abbas: We'll internationalize conflict if Israel continues to ignore Palestinians In a speech marking the Palestinian "Nakba" (or "catastrophe") day, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that if Israel continues to ignore the Palestinians and their demand for a state, the Palestinians will turn to the International Criminal Court to further internationalize the conflict, Haaretz reported. "If this government continues with the same conduct we've witnessed in recent years, we'll proceed with the internationalization of the conflict, with all the repercussions such a move entails," Abbas said. The Palestinians will continue to "expose" to the world and the ICC Israel's continued settlement activity and it's "crimes" during the past summer's war in Gaza against Hamas. According to Abbas, there will be [no] resuming of peace negotiations with Israel unless the Jewish states agrees to the following three conditions: Freeze settlement building in the West Bank; release Palestinians who have been imprisoned in Israeli jails since before the Oslo Accords; and agree to withdraw from Palestinian land by 2017 following one year peace negotiations. This same article reports on the reaction of Republican members of Congress, to a report that the Vatican had just signed a treaty recognizing a State of Palestine: The Vatican's recent announcement to recognize Palestine as a state in a new treaty has drawn the criticism of Republican Congress members, Politico reported. Republican Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said he was "disappointed" with Pope Francis' move who he said "is legitimizing a Palestinian state without requiring those who get recognition to recognize Israel as a Jewish state." "It’s interesting how the Vatican has gotten so political when ultimately the Vatican ought to be working to lead people to Jesus Christ and salvation, and that’s what the Church is supposed to do," he added. . . Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) echoed Duncan's statement saying that "I’m surprised that the pope would recognize Palestine when they’re still haters who want to eliminate Israel off the map and don’t recognize Israel." Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz), who co-chairs the Israel Allies Caucus criticized Pope Francis, "He’s a religious figure and he has every right to have his political viewpoint, but someone of that profile should have strong scriptural foundation for whatever positions he takes that are extensively representing the head of the Catholic Church," he was quoted by Politico as saying. "I think this is probably one he should not have expressed." Interestingly, the Vatican has actually recognized Palestine as a State since 2012, when the UN granted de facto recognition of the sovereign State of Palestine. - Actually, the Vatican Recognized Palestine in 2012—Not Today But there was just one small problem with the news driving the whole hullabaloo: the Vatican had actually recognized Palestine in 2012, after it declared statehood at the United Nations. This fact, which is evident from a cursory search of the Vatican’s official news service, was quickly noted by several experts in Palestinian politics. Others observed that during his trip last May to Israel and Palestine, Pope Francis had explicitly heralded the “good relations existing between the Holy See and the State of Palestine.” As Ramallah-based journalist and former Al Jazeera producer Dalia Hatuqa put it: “For years, Vatican has referred to it as State of Palestine. Nothing new here.” The new treaty reported by the AP between the Vatican and “the state of Palestine,” in other words, was simply the first accord signed by the two parties since that original official recognition. Sure enough, when more discerning reporters tried to follow up on the AP’s big scoop, the Vatican and Palestinian Authority promptly denied that anything new had transpired, and pointed out that the official Vatican recognition had already been conferred years prior. . . Thus, the UN is clearly one avenue through which the Vatican may achieve its objective in the face of a recalcitrant Israel. Another is the growing number of individual nations which are recognizing the statehood of Palestine: 67 years to Nakba, 135 countries recognize Palestine With the collapse of peace negotiations 20 years later, Palestinians resorted to urging the United Nations and the international community to recognize a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, and to join international organizations and treaties, such as the International Criminal Court, which Palestine officially joined in April. In 2012, Palestine was recognized by the UN as a non-Member observer state. Two years later, an unprecedented international support for the symbolic recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders was voiced out. This support was brought about by a series of motions adopted by a number of European parliaments. The Swedish parliament was the first to catalyze the momentum of recognition of the Palestinian state earlier this year. In October, Sweden officially recognized the State of Palestine, becoming the first European Union state to take such a move. In this, however, Sweden was the eighth European state to recognize the Palestinian state after the Czech Republic; Hungary; Poland; Bulgaria; Romania; Malta, and Cyprus, which made their recognition some time before they became European Union members. While Sweden was the 135th state to recognize the state of Palestine. Its October move reverberated in many European capitals. Five European parliaments followed in Sweden's footsteps by symbolically recognizing the Palestinian state later. On October 13, Britain's House of Commons adopted a non-binding resolution, urging the government to recognize the State of Palestine. A month later, the Spanish Parliament voted with an overwhelming majority on a non-binding resolution, urging Madrid to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. France followed suit on December 2, after a majority of French lawmakers approved a non-binding resolution, calling on Paris to recognize the Palestinian state. On December 11, the Irish parliament adopted a non-binding bill, urging the Irish government to recognize the State of Palestine. A day later, the Portuguese parliament took a similar step. In February, the parliaments of Belgium and Italy adopted similar resolutions. Such a momentum encouraged a number of European Parliament blocs to suggest that the European Union, which has a total of 28 member states, recognize the State of Palestine. All of this may be a prelude to pressure on Israel by the European Union, since the United States does not appear to be likely to do so in the foreseeable future: Former European leaders call for change in EU policy on Israel A high-profile group of former European political leaders and diplomats has called for the urgent reassessment of EU policy on the question of a Palestinian state and has insisted Israel must be held to account for its actions in the occupied territories. In a hard-hitting letter to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, the group – which includes former prime ministers, foreign ministers and ambassadors also expresses serious doubts about the ability of the US to lead substantive negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. It charges that EU political and financial aid has achieved nothing but the “preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and imprisonment of Gaza”. The group, known as the European Eminent Persons Group, argues that the re-election of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the head of a narrow rightwing coalition has made the issue even more pressing. . . The former leaders’ letter follows the report to Mogherini sent by 16 EU foreign ministers on 13 April 2015 that calls for the EU-wide introduction of guidelines for correct labelling of settlement products. Supporting this initiative, the authors of the letter go further, calling for “tougher measures to contain [Israeli] settlement expansion and steps to operationalise the EU’s policy of non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty beyond the 1967 borders across the full range of EU-Israeli relations”. Linking the call explicitly to the re-election of Netanyahu, the letter reads: “The re-election of Binyamin Netanyahu as Israeli prime minister and the construction of a new Israeli coalition government now requires urgent action by the EU to construct a coherent and effective policy on the question of Palestine. “Mr Netanyahu expressed various views on Palestine in and around the recent election campaign, most of them cold to the concept of an independent Palestinian state. We are convinced in our own minds that he has little intention of negotiating seriously for a two-state solution within the term of this incoming Israeli government. We also have low confidence that the US government will be in a position to take a lead on fresh negotiations with the vigour and the impartiality that a two-state outcome demands. “Yet the situation on the ground grows steadily more dangerous. It has received less priority attention recently than certain other parts of a very disturbed region, but conditions in the occupied territories remain high on the list of the world’s worst crises in terms not just of political flammability, but also of the denial of international justice, human rights and humanitarian standards. Very strong language! It would be unrealistic to think that the Vatican is not active behind the scenes. The United States of America is irrevocably set on the course to become a theocracy in full conformity with the prophecy of Rev. 13:14-18. Anyone who doubts that the Image to the Beast is already formed and has begun to speak is sadly mistaken, and evidently not paying close attention to the march of events. The following report is more revealing evidence of what is taking place:- From [I]@yahoo.com: 57% Of Republicans Say Dismantle Constitution And Make Christianity National Religion A Public Policy Polling (PPP) national survey conducted between February 20th and February 22nd of Republican voters, found that an astonishing 57 percent of Republicans want to dismantle the Constitution, and establish Christianity as the official national religion. Only 30 percent oppose making Christianity the national religion. Although the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment clearly states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” GOP voters want to cast aside that provision and impose Christianity as the official American religion. While a number of red states have passed statutes forbidding the implementation of Islam-based sharia law in their states, Republicans apparently have no misgivings about turning the United States into a Christian theocracy. The poll’s crosstabs reveal that support for making Christianity the official religion is strongest among Mike Huckabee (94 percent), Rick Perry (83 percent), and Ben Carson (78 percent) supporters. It is such abysmal ignorance of what is at the heart of the American Constitution, (or deliberate disregard of it by the propagandists who have been set on destroying the separation of church and state from the very beginning,) that has laid the foundation for the final deadly theocracy predicted in Rev. 13. It should be a matter of profound embarrassment to Seventh-day Adventists that Ben Carson professes to be a member of the faith. Elder Wm. H. Grotheer pointed out during his lifetime that exegetically Rev. 13:14 points to the making of an image to the beast by a democratic electoral process. It is worthy of note that the context clearly points to the process being initiated by leaders of the nation, and not by grassroots demand of the people. The minds of the electorate would be conditioned to respond positively to the proposition. This is precisely what has happened. The book Facts of Faith by Christian Edwardson contains a chapter on the Jesuits, in which the author provides a well-documented history of this religious order, and points to danger of their being allowed to carry on their work without hindrance in the United States. In the chapter titled Making America Catholic he documents how well advanced this project of the Church of Rome already was when his book was published in 1943. Read the chapter for yourselves and understand how the foundation was laid by the Roman Catholics, and the Jesuits in particular, for the Image to Beast to be formed in the United States of America. The prophecies of Rev. 13:11-18 are confirmed by the march of prophetic events. With Seventh-day Adventists like Ben Carson in the forefront, it is also a well- known fact that large numbers of SDAs have been voting Republican in recent elections precisely because they consciously or unconsciously have been captivated by the new popularity of religion in politics. There is ample literature which proves that this contradicts the basis on which this nation was founded, of which the following are two: The first is a scholarly essay so tightly reasoned that it seems a travesty to select only some passages for quotation. Nevertheless, for the purpose of this web page this is unavoidable. For this reason the visitor to this page is urged to read the entire essay which commendably is published by the "Church State Council, a religious liberty ministry of the Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists" - Religious Pluralism and America's Christian Nation Debate It can be said that how a nation interprets its own historical development—or tells its national story in the minds and hearts of its people—will determine its ultimate success or failure. This is how nations are sustained and often how revolutionary convulsions are born. Indeed, as George Santayana once wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”[4] This is no less true in the United States today where the greatest threat to our constitutional system comes from the temptation of a few overzealous souls to reinterpret our nation's constitutional history in a way that suits their own desire for political power. For example, encouraged by their popular following on radio and television, there has been a plethora of politically and religiously motivated individuals challenging America’s well-researched and articulated constitutional history. Since the late 1980’s, beginning with the widely sold video and DVD productions by David Barton of Wallbuilders, Inc.—and advocated by very powerful and persuasive spin doctors like Newt Gingrich [Roman Catholic convert,] Dr. D. James Kennedy, Judge Roy Moore, and Attorney Jay Sekulow—there has been an enormous amount of money, time, and energy put into blurring the distinction between the Puritan and Constitutional founding periods. This has caused many unwary American citizens to believe that the United States Government was specifically intended by our nation’s Founders to be constituted on the basis of Christianity and literal Scriptural commands. However, at the heart of this revolutionary tactic is the desire for extraordinary political power, not an objective pursuit of truth. An honest examination of history will not advance their interests. Instead, they are subtly, and quite successfully, rewriting America's constitutional history in the minds and hearts of the people, particularly among evangelical Christians who are the most vulnerable. They hope by reinterpreting and rewriting the Constitution, to establish the Christian Constitution and Christian State, or Government, they have always cherished. Recognizing that they may end up falling short of rewriting the Constitution, they have even contemplated what it would take to influence “We the people” to abolish it altogether in a special edition of Richard John Neuhaus’ First Things journal (a leading Catholic journal) back in 1996. One of the means that has been employed has been the proposal of so-called Constitution Reform Acts at the state level, including a Pledge of Allegiance Act at the federal level. These acts are specifically worded in a way that would bar state courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court, from hearing cases involving acts of religious expression in the public square that are sponsored by the government, thus giving state legislative bodies and the U.S. Congress a blank check to pass whatever the popular will of the people wanted. This in turn would effectively limit courts from interpreting the Constitution over an entire realm of jurisprudence—namely church-state and religious liberty case law. This would represent a dangerous precedent and a major constitutional revolution with potentially devastating consequences to our country's constitutional separation of powers, its system of checks and balances, and the constitutional separation of church and state based on the no establishment provision of the First Amendment. That is the path that historical revisionists seek to take America. The Christian Nation Debate According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 71% percent of Americans consider the United States a “Christian nation.”[5] But in what manner is the United States a Christian nation? According to the same Pew Research poll, secularism and atheism are on the decline while 82% percent of Americans claim to be Christian. Of this 82% percent cited by the Pew Research Center, 25% percent are conservative evangelical Catholics and 29% percent are evangelical Protestants. This means that 54% percent are conservative evangelical Christians, leaving approximately 28% percent in the mainline liberal Protestant churches. All other people of faith make up 9% percent (i.e., Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc.). The remaining 8 to 9% percent range from secularists with no particular antagonism to institutional forms of religion, to atheists, who make up less than 2% percent of the American population.[6] From this, one could reasonably conclude that demographically and culturally America remains a predominantly Christian nation in the midst of a competitive and diverse religious landscape. But it also represents a cultural divide where today, pitched struggles over the proper place of religion in the public square—whether it be over the celebration of Christmas in public venues, God in the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer in public schools, the legality and propriety of same-sex marriage, courthouse displays of the Ten Commandments, and the status of biological evolution in education (i.e., the teaching of Creationism or Intelligent Design along side evolution)—spill rivers of ink and spawn endless litigation. But this is not all: abortion, euthanasia, and stem cell research are hotly debated. Popular TV and radio talk show host Bill O’Reilly [Roman Catholic] is a frequent agitator of these conflicts, encouraging America’s Christian traditionalists—whom he calls “cultural warriors”—to fight against secular liberalism. There are some interesting paragraphs which seem to be informative on the raging subject of same-sex rights. There is a fine line between recognizing and enforcing the civil rights of individuals and invading the religious liberty of those of us who are guided by the Bible's condemnation of aberrant lusts and sexual practices: A few years ago, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in a speech at the University of Northern Ireland, argued that America’s Constitutional Founders understood the potential for either extreme to strangle its experiment in freedom and the development of a democratic form of government. She said that today it is no different: “The religious zealot and the theocrat frighten us in part because we understand only too well their basic impulse. No less frightening is the totalitarian atheist who aspires to a society in which the exercise of religion has no place.”[8] . . . The First Amendment, in part, states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” But today, many evangelical Christians seek to reinterpret the no Establishment provision separating Church and State in ways that would require government to financially support their institutions and enforce their religious dogmas in the public square so as to solve the moral ills of the nation. They seek to restore America to a time—a pre-constitutional period—in which government directly supported the church, and thus by default established it. In this case, instead of establishing a particular Christian faith or creed or denomination, it seeks to establish Christianity and its values as a whole. But there are others, mostly on the Left, who seek to marginalize the Free Exercise of Religion in favor of placing a higher level of protection on lifestyles that are not viewed favorably by a society that is predominantly made up of moral and social traditionalists (i.e., evangelical Christians), specifically when it is perceived that any proposed religious freedom legislation competes with same-sex rights.[10] Both of these approaches are unnecessarily divisive and extremely harmful to our nation’s constitutional health. However, the Nation’s Founders anticipated this tension, creating an internal check and balance within the very wording of the First Amendment in order to prevent America from being overrun by either extreme in the great church-state debate (a puritanical vs. godless society). Remove this balancing safeguard and I believe America’s constitutional guarantees will be lost, and with it its civil and religious freedoms. Same-sex rights and abortion are issues which threaten to bind together true Bible Christians with Rome and Romanized apostate Protestants. It is well to keep in mind the inspired statement of Ellen G. White: I have been shown that Satan has not been stupid and careless these many years, since his fall, but has been learning. He has grown more artful. His plans are laid deeper, and are more covered with a religious garment to hide their deformity. The power of Satan now to tempt and deceive is ten-fold greater than it was in the days of the apostles. His power has increased, and it will increase, until it is taken away. (2 SG, p. 277; emphasis supplied.) So thorough is the essay above, that the following article is almost superfluous. However, the passages quoted merit the attention of the reader: Dispelling the myth of a ‘Christian nation’ Religious divisions among the many Protestant sects in 18th century America were deep and abiding. Anglicans, Quakers, Baptists, Congregationalists and many others fought bitterly over what it meant to be “Christian” although almost all could agree that “Papists” (Roman Catholics) were followers of the anti-Christ. In other words, religious diversity at America’s founding made a necessity of religious freedom because no one group had the power or the numbers to impose its version of true faith Christian or otherwise on all others. It is worth remembering, however, that principles as much as practical politics inspired many of our founders to define religious freedom as requiring no establishment of religion. Roger Williams, to cite the earliest and best example, founded the colony of Rhode Island in 1636 out of his conviction that only by erecting a “wall or hedge of separation” between the “garden of the church” and “the wilderness of the world” would it be possible to protect liberty of conscience as required by God. Religious freedom, Williams argued, is itself a Christian principle. Any attempt to establish a Christian nation, therefore, always has been and always will be unjust, dangerous and profoundly un-Christian. Rejection of the "Christian principle" is now pervasive in the body politic of the United States. The end result is predicted in Rev. 13. The report below on a session of the summit on climate change held at the Vatican on April 28 brings to mind Rev. 16:13-14 and what famed spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle reported was communicated by the spirits, through a medium, to a a US Senator recently converted to spiritualism, not in the sense that the campaign against climate change is not valid, but that the session appears to have been a profound spiritual experience unifying an impressive array of the world's political, business, and religious leaders:- From [D]@gmail.com: Blessed Are the Climate Advocates This week, while at Vatican City in Rome to manage press for the first-ever meeting on climate change between Pope Francis and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, my faith in a force more powerful was renewed. I am not religious, despite being descended from a long line of Amish and Mennonite preachers. But at the climate confab, I became a believer again. And I wasn’t alone. It wasn’t my faith in God that was renewed at the Vatican but rather a faith in our ability to get something done on climate change. And as an American, whose Congress isn’t even close to acting aggressively or quickly enough on climate change, that’s saying something. Even the Pope’s and the U.N.’s top policy officials were clearly inspired by the event, which was hosted by the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Throughout the day I witnessed multiple about-faces of previously cynical staff rapidly turning toward optimism. This Vatican moment was a game-changer. Science and religion were forcefully and unwaveringly aligning. Tuesday’s high-level session brought together multiple presidents, CEOs, academics, scientists, and all the major religions, and ended with this final, forceful statement. The event was a prelude to the Pope’s summer encyclical on climate change, and it laid a solid foundation. But more importantly—and this is why it instilled faith in many of us—the meeting featured some of the strongest words yet from the Vatican’s Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Pope’s right-hand policy man and the drafter of the first round of what will eventually be the Pope’s climate encyclical, and from the U.N.’s Ban Ki-moon. . . The Vatican’s Turkson, meanwhile, pulled out all the stops, saying that “a crime against the natural world is a sin,” and “to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation ... are sins.” Turkson warned about how quickly we are degrading the planet’s integrity, stripping its forests, destroying its wetlands, and contaminating its waters, land, and air. These declarations were not soft, feel-good, and vague speeches by politicos keen to be perceived as leading on the most urgent issue facing humanity. These were unequivocal, unwavering statements: “Decision mitigation is a moral and religious imperative for humanity” and the “summit in Paris may be the last effective opportunity” to keep the planet safe. . . As we left Vatican City this week—which is carbon-neutral thanks to solar power—there was a palpable sense that history was made within the walls of Casina Pio IV where our deliberations took place. This was no typical conference. This was a Sermon on the Mount moment, wherein the beatitudes of a new era were laid down. And we left as disciples, renewed in our faith that we must and will act in time to save humanity from itself—an agenda that would be a worthy legacy of the Pope’s Jesus. It is no coincidence that Pope Francis is deeply involved in the charismatic Spiritual Renewal movement - and so is Cardinal Turkson, as verified by the following reports: Great Gathering of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Family - Kampala, Uganda From June 30th to July 4th, 2014, a International Meeting of Catholic Charismatic Renewal took place in Kampala, Uganda, with the theme “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:4) All five continents were represented with about 2,500 people. We were honoured by the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio who delivered the encouraging message from the Holy Father. We were also strengthened by the presence of several Cardinals, among them, Cardinal Turkson from the Vatican, and from several Archbishops, Bishops and numerous priests. . . The Renewal Ministries' mission team has been invited by the dioceses of Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and Donkorkrom to conduct healing and deliverance training and catechist formation programs for the dioceses of that region. We will also carry out leadership training for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal leaders and do parish outreach programs. . . In July of 1998 Renewal Ministries and the F.I.R.E. team held our first evangelistic rally in Ghana. A few years later, Peter Cardinal Turkson (then Archbishop), came to Ann Arbor to lead the Renewal Ministries' Staff Retreat. . . The Charismatic renewal movement has come to grips with the climate change controversy. If the U.N.’s Climate Change Conference in Paris is successful later this year, as preceding conferences have not, it might be attributable to the increased influence of the spirits of Rev. 16:13-14. In the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church during recent decades harlotry has become so commonplace that it is easy to overlook reports such as the one that follows; however, that is no reason to ignore it, because it is one of the major signs of the times:- From [D]@gmail.com: NEWS RELEASE: Adventist Church to mark UN’s International Day of Peace September 21 Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders are inviting members to join the United Nations’ International Day of Peace on Sunday, September 21 by responding to a call for a minute of silence at noon with prayer. In prepared remarks for the upcoming day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged people to reflect on peace. “We must douse the fires of extremism and tackle the root causes of conflict. Peace is a long road that we must travel together—step by step, beginning today.” The Adventist Church has promoted peacemaking efforts since its inception. In one of its official statements on peace the Church acknowledged that “Jesus wants his followers to be peacemakers in society and hence calls them blessed.” John Graz, director of the Adventist Church’s Public Affairs and Religious Liberty department, said, “Durable peace can not be built without developing education, health, justice and freedom for all people. That’s why the Adventist Church has heavily invested in schools, hospitals and organizations promoting freedom of conscience.” Graz described the International Day of Peace as a “time to strengthen the ideals of peace, and to celebrate those who dedicate their lives to peace making.” The peace for which they will pray is not the peace promised by Jesus Christ in John 14:26-27. It is the peace of the great ecumenical movement, bringing the world's nations, religions, and christian churches together under the leadership of the great deceiver. Of this peace we read in the Bible, "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape (1 Thess. 5:3.) Spiritual harlotry is defined by the pen of inspiration. The summit on climate change was held at the Vatican on April 28, and it concerned the moral dimensions of climate change. The UN sees the Vatican as having the moral authority to break the international paralysis on the subject. The papacy seeks to influence the U.N.'s December Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris, France. The paradox is that conservatives within the Roman Catholic Church are climate change naysayers. Perhaps this is why "The pope has prepared an encyclical for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, which asserts that global warming is caused by humans." It is hoped that the popularity and perceived "moral authority" of Pope Francis will be the deciding influence at the December conference:- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis’ Moral Authority on Climate Control The Vatican has a goal to influence the U.N.’s Climate Change Conference in Paris. The conference will be held in December with the hopeful intent to unite the nations and put together legally-binding protocols to protect the Earth. This organized effort is upsetting conservatives, especially conservative Catholics. Pope Francis is not the first pope to address the environment, but his plans have people talking. Pope Francis’ progressive ideas, along with his popularity with the laity, has presented a challenge that is being viewed as the pope moving from the theological to the political realm. [When was the papacy not involved in the political realm? What a farcical objection!] Pope Francis fully intends to address the issue of climate change, and Catholic conservatives are unhappy. The pope has prepared an encyclical for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, which asserts that global warming is caused by humans. . . Pope Francis has a voice that reaches beyond any of his predecessors on many social issues. . . Fulfillment of the Rev. 13:3 (last part) prophecy is right on course. This will probably be significantly advanced by the December conference. Like the hydra-headed monster, the Roman Catholic Church is multi faceted. While there are menacing faces visible in the shadows, the one which Rome wants to be projected on the world stage is the friendly, smiling Pontiff; and it has been successful in deflecting attention away from a seemingly remote threat from the Beast and its Image:- From [D]@gmail.com: Report: Pope Francis Most Influential Leader on Twitter A new study claims that Pope Francis is the most influential person on Twitter for the third year in a row, and his influence is growing steadily. . . Thus, in spite of controversy within Rome's ranks, the momentum continues towards the climax that "all the world wondered [followed] after the Beast (Rev. 13:3.) The report which follows is pregnant with facts connected to the fulfillment of prophecy. This entry will not "connect all of the dots." This will be done in successive entries. The primary focus of this entry is the fact that the religio-political revolution in the State of Kansas is Roman Catholic to the core. Governor Sam Brownback is a convert to one of the most right-wing extremist organizations in the Church of Rome. He demonstrated his Roman Catholic enthusiasm for the legislation that is the subject of the report by re-enacting the signing of the bill four times, and making sure that "each location was at or near a Catholic school, so children could attend":- Sam Brownback spent Tuesday re-enacting four times how he signed Kansas anti-abortion bill On April 7, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) signed a bill outlawing the most commonly used abortion method for women in their second trimester. Kansas is the first state to pass such a ban, which doctors say may force women into choosing more dangerous forms of abortion. The moment was historic—so historic, that on Tuesday, Brownback took a victory lap around the state, signing the bill again in four separate private ceremonial re-enactments. Each location was at or near a Catholic school, so children could attend. . . Sam Brownback is a convert to Roman Catholicism: The Rev. John McCloskey - The Catholic Church's K Street lobbyist In late July, a tiny item in the Washington Post announced some surprising news: Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican and former United Methodist best known for his opposition to cloning, converted to Catholicism on June 27. But just as notable as Brownback's conversion was the man who performed it, the Rev. John McCloskey. Brownback is the third political celebrity to convert to Catholicism under McCloskey's guidance—the other two were journalist Robert Novak and economist-commentator Lawrence Kudlow. The priest, who operates out of Washington's Catholic Information Center a couple of blocks from the White House, has made himself a spiritual K Street lobbyist. What's he lobbying for? Souls, but also the soul of the Catholic Church. In addition to his trifecta of high-profile conversions (plus a fourth, the former abortion doctor Bernard Nathanson), McCloskey has become one of the nation's most prominent priestly pundits, espousing his doctrinaire conservatism (in matters of faith, not politics) on Meet the Press, The O'Reilly Factor, Crossfire,NPR's All Things Considered, and Tim Russert's hourlong CNBC show. He chats on television with Greta Van Susteren, Paula Zahn, and Tony Snow and is quoted by USA Today, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. Like all good advocates, he's relentlessly on-message: The Catholic Church, he says, will be revitalized by a traditionalist return to its roots, not through liberalization. It's a two-pronged strategy: Bring in conservative evangelical Protestants like Brownback while at the same time casting out liberal Catholics of all stripes. McCloskey converted Brownback to one of the most right-wing extremist organizations in the Church of Rome: Sam Brownback, Opus Dei & the “Constitution Restoration Act” Since 2004, Senator Sam Brownback has been supporting a major change in the constitutional structure of the United States. Brownback was a co-sponsor of the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 later reintroduced in 2005. The Constitution Restoration Act seeks to limit the power of the Federal Judiciary to review any question that involves religious liberty. The pernicious act even goes so far as to suggest impeachment of any judge who “hears” a case involving religious liberty. The act would leave to the State courts the control over freedom of religion, thus limiting minority and non-Christian religions from participating in the United States society. Sam Brownback is a Catholic and was received into the Catholic Church by Father C. John McCloskey, an Opus Dei priest and although Sam is not a member of Opus Dei, he still aligns himself with their extreme conservative philosophies, especially their anti-democracy philosophies. . . The Kansas legislation advances the agenda of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro-life Activities. Pope Francis continues with his drive to enhance his stature as the preeminent moral authority in the world. He is the personification of the Holy See's agenda of world dominance, and this is aided and abetted by the United Nations:- From [D]@gmail.com: Vatican to Host Summit on Climate Change The Vatican will host a summit on climate change and sustainability efforts later this month, officials announced on Tuesday. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will give the opening address of the “Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity” event, and faith and science leaders will give speeches and participate in panels. The goal of the summit is to highlight “the intrinsic connection between respect for the environment and respect for people—especially the poor, the excluded, victims of human trafficking and modern slavery, children, and future generations,” according to the Vatican’s website. The summit is part of a larger effort by Pope Francis to bring the Catholic Church into the conversation about sustainability and the environment. . . This event, in which the UN clearly gives deference to the Holy See, highlights the extraordinary influence of the papacy in the United Nations. Collaboration is not a new phenomenon. There is legitimate objection to the status of the Holy See at the UN. This includes Roman Catholics who oppose the influence wielded by the Vatican. It is worthy of note that the world body and the Vatican share a commitment to interfaith dialogue. The United Nations has been, and continues to be, a part of the ecumenical movement which is bringing the world together under the ascendancy of the papacy. The collaboration between the papacy and the United Nations is logical in this context. Pope Francis throws the weight of his office behind tackling climate change The meeting, which the Vatican detailed on its website late Tuesday (April 14), is another sign of Pope Francis’ ”green agenda” and another potential red flag for conservatives who are already alarmed over an expected papal teaching document on the environment that is scheduled for release this summer. The one-day summit on April 28 will also include participants from major world religions and aims to “elevate the debate on the moral dimensions of protecting the environment in advance of the papal encyclical,” as the papal document is known. . . An encyclical is one of the most authoritative documents a pope can issue, and church sources say this one has been the focus of intense lobbying by Catholics, especially American conservatives who believe that climate change is being overhyped or that human activity is not a factor and that remedies may do more harm than good. As indicated above, the position being taken by the Pope is not without controversy within the Roman Catholic Church. It is also a source of friction with Evangelicals in the United States - Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches But can Francis achieve a feat that has so far eluded secular powers and inspire decisive action on climate change? It looks as if he will give it a go. In 2015, the pope will issue a lengthy message on the subject to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, give an address to the UN general assembly and call a summit of the world’s main religions. The reason for such frenetic activity, says Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, is the pope’s wish to directly influence next year’s crucial UN climate meeting in Paris, when countries will try to conclude 20 years of fraught negotiations with a universal commitment to reduce emissions. . . Francis will also be opposed by the powerful US evangelical movement, said Calvin Beisner, spokesman for the conservative Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, which has declared the US environmental movement to be “un-biblical” and a false religion. “The pope should back off,” he said. “The Catholic church is correct on the ethical principles but has been misled on the science. It follows that the policies the Vatican is promoting are incorrect. Our position reflects the views of millions of evangelical Christians in the US.” It is ironic that it was the Roman Catholic bishops who engineered the involvement of the Evangelicals in the political arena. They were responsible for the emergence in the United States of a religio-political power similar to that of Rome - the Image to the Beast. There are vast areas of agreement between them, menacing the freedoms of Christians truly committed to the Bible and Secularists alike. However, there are critically important disagreements, hindering the achievement of Rome's objectives. Christian Zionism is one; climate change is another. Pope Francis is sailing against strong headwinds which seem to be blowing contrary to the prophetic timeline; but the sure Word of Prophecy will be fulfilled. A highly placed and authoritative voice confirms world economic conditions which validate William H. Grotheer's exegesis of the phrase "and upon the earth distress of nations" in Luke 21:25:- As 2015 begins, policymakers around the world are faced with three fundamental choices: to strive for economic growth or accept stagnation; to work to improve stability or risk succumbing to fragility; and to cooperate or go it alone. The stakes could not be higher; 2015 promises to be a make-or-break year for the global community. For starters, growth and jobs are needed to support prosperity and social cohesion in the wake of the Great Recession that began in 2008. Six years after the eruption of the financial crisis, the recovery remains weak and uneven. Global growth is projected at just 3.3% in 2014 and 3.8% in 2015. Some important economies are still fighting deflation. More than 200 million people are unemployed. The global economy risks getting stuck in a “new mediocre” – a prolonged period of slow growth and feeble job creation. 2015: The global economy's 'sink or swim' moment Let's be blunt: The central banks have done all they can, and now it's 'sink or swim' time for the global economy. This week the European Central Bank unveiled a massive stimulus program -- worth $1.3 trillion -- to lift the region out of its economic malaise. It was the latest in a long line of stimulus measures from central banks around the world. But it will only work if everybody else follows through. European politicians and policy makers must now make decisive moves to increase productivity, investment and growth, which can involve reforming labor market rules, promoting entrepreneurship and tweaking tax codes. "We all have a job to do," said ECB member Benoit Coeure during a panel discussion on Saturday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "We have done our part. Others have to do their part." The stimulus certainly buys more time for European governments to press ahead with economic reforms. But they had better move quickly! The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, told CNN this week that "inaction" is currently the biggest global risk. Christine Lagarde warns, as quoted above, "The global economy risks getting stuck in a “new mediocre” – a prolonged period of slow growth and feeble job creation." Judging by past performance over the last seven years, especially in the US Congress, "the biggest global risk" of "inaction" against which she warns in the final quotation above is the most likely to be realized. We have the sure Word of Prophecy, and it is being fulfilled before our eyes. The end cannot be far distant. In Luke 21:24 is given a prophecy of Jesus Himself as a sign of His Second Coming within a time frame after fulfillment of the prophecy - a limited span of time, although not a precise date for the climactic event. The year 1980 was the latest date from which this limited span of time could be calculated. All of the indications from current events is that time is running out. In this context there is another prophecy which when fulfilled will herald the close of all human probation. This is the prophecy of Daniel 11:45. There is an intriguing statement that Pope Francis has made about his pontificate: Pope Francis two years on: 'The Lord chose me for a short mission' “I have a feeling my pontificate will be brief,” he told Mexico’s Televisa channel. “Four or five years, I don’t know. Two years have already gone by. “It is a vague feeling I have that the Lord chose me for a short mission. I am always open to that possibility.” What is the significance of this statement following upon Pope Benedict's reason for resigning? The devils know the prophecies. They "believe and tremble" (James 2:19.) The attentive watcher cannot have failed to notice recent events which appear to have stalled the progression of events towards the predicted establishment of a papal presence in Jerusalem. In Israel's recent elections Benjamin Netanyahu won the right to form a coalition government with the most extreme right-wing members of the Knesset: Netanyahu's Hard-Right Shift To Win Election Presents Troubles Ahead Although Netanyahu must still put together a coalition to remain in power, his victory all but guarantees that he will be given the first opportunity to form a government, putting him course to become the longest-serving leader in Israeli history. But the promises he made to woo ultranationalist voters in the final days of the campaign, by effectively jettisoning the "two state" aim of more than two decades of Middle East peacemaking, could have far-ranging consequences, including deepening rifts with the United States and Europe. . . If Netanyahu follows through on his pledges it would put him on a collision course with the Obama administration and the European Union, which has been weighing steps including trade measures to sanction Israel for its settlements policy. Parliaments in historically pro-Israel countries including France and Britain have held non-binding votes favoring recognizing Palestinian independence. Western countries have generally held back from this step, arguing that a Palestinian state must emerge from negotiations, but with Netanyahu having apparently abandoned the "two state" principle of such talks, the argument is harder to make. Netanyahu made a promise to his supporters on the day before the Israeli elections: Netanyahu says no Palestinian state if he wins On the final day of his reelection campaign, Benjamin Netanyahu said that as long as he serves as prime minister of Israel, there will not be an independent Palestinian nation. . . Netanyahu’s assertion, made on camera to an Israeli news Web site, appeared to reverse the prime minister’s previous declarations of support for a sovereign Palestinian state. “I think that anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state today and evacuate lands is giving attack grounds to the radical Islam against the state of Israel,” he said in a video interview published Monday on the NRG site. “Anyone who ignores this is sticking his head in the sand. The left does this time and time again,” Netanyahu said. “We are realistic and understand.” Netanyahu was then asked specifically whether he meant that a Palestinian state would not be established if he were reelected prime minister. He answered, “Correct.” This provoked a "rapid and outraged" reaction from the world: With 'no-state' pledge, Netanyahu reignites Palestine debate The day before Israel's election, with polls showing he could lose, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Palestinians would never have a state on his watch. It was a sweeping statement that flew in the face of his own past commitments and 25 years of international efforts to arrive at a two-state solution to the conflict: Israel and an independent Palestine living side-by-side. The world's reaction was rapid and outraged. The European Union called on Israel to commit to the two-state goal at a "crucial moment". The United Nations said the only way for Israel to remain democratic was to stick to the peace process, which sees two states as the final objective. White House spokesman Josh Earnest reaffirmed President Barack Obama's focus on a two-state solution and said that based on Netanyahu's comments, the United States "will evaluate our approach to this situation moving forward". Within three days Netanyahu was backtracking on his rejection of the two-state solution to the Palestine crisis: Netanyahu backtracks on rejecting two states, but damage is already done Netanyahu’s new problem is that – hoist with his own petard – he has now been obliged to spin both the comments he made on the even of the elections and his wider tactics during the campaign, including his pointed breach of protocol in making a speech to Congress that US president Barack Obama did not want him to make. By Thursday Netanyahu was singing a different tune. “I haven’t changed my policy,” he told MSNBC. “What has changed is the reality.” The result was his interview on Thursday in which he insisted he meant no “disrespect” to Obama, backed a two-state solution, and saw the US as Israel’s most important ally – the last of which at least is certainly heartfelt. The reality is Netanyahu is playing a game that has become wearily familiar to the diplomats and leaders who have dealt with him since he was re-elected to office in 2009 – paying lip service to a lukewarm and vague commitment to a Palestinian state he has no intention of ever honouring. In recent years he has deployed a series of excuses to defer meaningful progress: the priority of the threat of a nuclear Iran; the demand that Palestinians should recognise Israel as a Jewish state, and the notion that any withdrawal from the occupied territories would allow the creations of “Hamastan B” as he has called it, or permit Isis to reach the doorstep of Jerusalem. On the diplomatic front the game is both simple and familiar: to maintain a critical ambiguity in the face of the real facts on the ground, represented by the increase in settlement building by the Israeli government, in the midst of the last round of peace talks. It is a restatement in theory of a support for two states, while in practice never finding the conditions suitable. The problem is the international community has seen this ruse too often for it to be effective any more. Netanyahu, as diplomats have made clear and anticipated ahead of his re-election, is a known quantity whose actions in the past have left no room for any benefit of the doubt. What is the reason for Netanyahu's recalcitrance? He is a Zionist: The ideas that define Benjamin Netanyahu Western observers, though, often have a difficult time understanding the Israeli leader's approach to the world. Why is Netanyahu so deeply skeptical of making concessions to the Palestinians? Why does he talk in harsh, almost apocalyptic terms about the threat from Iran's nuclear program? And why has he fought so publicly with Barack Obama, the president of what's nominally his closest ally? It's impossible to understand any of this without understanding Netanyahu's animating ideology. The prime minister's belief system is deeply influenced by his father, an iconoclastic scholar of the Spanish Inquisition. Netanyahu and his father both hail from an older, militant Zionist tradition — one that has its origins with a man born in 19th-century Ukraine. . . There are few figures in the history of Zionism as important as Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Born in Odessa, Ukraine (then Russia), in 1880, Jabotinsky founded both the intellectual tradition and political institutions that would eventually produce Netanyahu's Likud party — and the hardline policies that define it. . . Jabotinsky's work is hardly a playbook for Netanyahu's foreign policy. But its two core principles — territorial maximalism and peace through strength — are foundational to the modern Israeli right, Netanyahu included. Their application to his Palestinian policy is almost too obvious. For one thing, Netanyahu is loath to give up what he sees as rightfully Jewish land in West Bank. Moreover, he simply doesn't believe the Palestinians are ready for peace — they haven't given up the dream, in his eyes, of pushing out the Jews. The major stumblingblock to the realization of the papacy's objective for Jerusalem is Zionism - Jewish Zionism in its most extreme form, and Christian Zionism. Both envision Palestine and Jerusalem undivided under Jewish control. The interpretation of the prophecy of Dan. 11:45 is confirmed by past history and current events. Rome is certain to achieve her goal. How the stumblingblock will be removed or circumvented remains to be seen. Already scheduled to be the first Roman Pontiff to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, Pope Francis will also address the United Nations General Assembly, and meet with President Obama during his visit to the United States this year:- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope to address UN general assembly on September 25 U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the announcement that Pope Francis would visit the United Nations the morning of Sept. 25 to address the U.N. General Assembly. In a statement March 18, the United Nations also said the pope would meet separately with the secretary-general and with the president of the General Assembly and would participate in a town hall gathering with U.N. staff. Obama, Pope Francis meeting: Looking for common ground at the White House The Obamas will host Pope Francis at the White House during his first visit to the U.S. on Sept. 23. When Obama met the Pope for the first time at the Vatican in March 2014, he urged him to visit the U.S., and the two discussed a range of issues including economic opportunity, immigration reform in the US and protecting innocent civilians in conflict areas around the world. Obama has often expressed his admiration for the Pope's ability to call attention to issues including income inequality, even while admitting they disagree on certain social issues. Neither of the foregoing reports mentions the Middle East conflicts and in particular the Israeli-Palestinian issue. It is inconceivable that there will not be talks in Washington and New York on the subject. With the prospects of an early peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians looking bleak after the Israeli elections [more on this in the next update,] it will be interesting to hear what the Pope has to say in public. The New York Times has exposed the religio-political movement behind the congressional moves to undermine the Iran nuclear negotiations:- HE was almost lost in the whirl of lawmakers, pundits, plutocrats and other boldface names who showed up for Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress last week. But the presence of Pat Boone was a key to understanding why John Boehner was playing a smart game of party politics to stand so solidly with the Israeli prime minister. I’m referring to Boone the singer. But I really mean Boone the churchman. He’s a prominent figure among, and megaphone for, American’s evangelical Christians, who listened to Netanyahu’s remarks as closely and adoringly as any constituency in this country. . . And days earlier, on a radio show, Boone described Netanyahu as a friend who was well aware that evangelical Christians constitute some of “Israel’s most staunch supporters,” numbering “in the tens of millions in the United States.” He’s correct in that analysis, which was strangely missing from much of the media coverage of and commentary about the Netanyahu-Boehner alliance. Yes, Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu, rendered independently of the White House, was a way to get under President Obama’s skin and in President Obama’s way. And, yes, that provocation was manna to the most conservative House Republicans, who sometimes chafe under Boehner’s leadership. But they loved what Boehner did for an additional reason: It catered to the evangelical Christians who are an integral part of the party’s base, especially for lawmakers from the reddest states or districts. In fact, as Ashley Parker reported in The Times, Boehner’s caucus gave him a standing ovation last week even though he was bucking them by linking arms with Nancy Pelosi to pass a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The prompt for all that clapping? Representative Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Republican, spoke up to thank Boehner for weathering attacks from the White House in order to make Netanyahu’s speech happen. What part of Colorado does Lamborn represent? Colorado Springs, which is a Republican stronghold, famous for its concentration of evangelical Christians. . . But the bigger story is Israel’s importance to evangelical Christians. “Christian Zionism as a sentiment is not new,” said Dan Senor, a Republican foreign policy adviser who has traveled to Israel with Mitt Romney, Chris Christie and other Republican candidates. “But as a movement, it has grown exponentially in size and political sophistication over the past 15 years.” . . . That’s a climate and a context that are essential to understanding fully the bear hug in which Boehner wrapped Bibi. He wasn’t merely welcoming a world leader. He was doing in the arena of foreign policy what he tries and sometimes fails to do with domestic issues: keeping the base in buoyant spirits. A concise definition of “Christian Zionism," its history and prominent place in American Evangelical theology, and its impact on American foreign policy and international politics, is provided in a Jewish Virtual Library article: Christian Zionism can be defined as Christian support for the Zionist cause — the return of the Jewish people to its biblical homeland in Israel. It is a belief among some Christians that the return of Jews to Israel is in line with a biblical prophecy, and is necessary for Jesus to return to Earth as its king. These Christians are partly motivated by the writings of the Bible and the words of the prophets. However, they are also driven to support Israel because they wish to “repay the debt of gratitude to the Jewish people for providing Christ and the other fundamentals of their faith,” and to support a political ally, according to David Brog, author Standing With Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State. . . . An important milestone in the history of Christian Zionism occurred in 1979, almost a century after William Hechler approached Herzl and offered to mobilize Christian support for a Jewish state: the founding of the Moral Majority. Founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority was an organization made up of conservative Christian political action committees that succeeded in mobilizing like-minded individuals to register and vote for conservative candidates. With nearly six million members, it became a powerful voting bloc during the 1980s and was credited for giving Ronald Reagan the winning edge in the 1980 elections. One of the Moral Majority’s four founding principles was “support for Israel and Jewish people everywhere.” In 1980, Falwell, who ran a television ministry that reached millions of viewers, said of Israel: “I firmly believe God has blessed America because America has blessed the Jew. If this nation wants her fields to remain white with grain, her scientific achievements to remain notable, and her freedom to remain intact, America must continue to stand with Israel.” Falwell disbanded the Moral Majority in 1989, but conservative Christians have remained vocal supporters of Israel though they lacked a strong formal structure for pro-Israel political action. [This last statement fails to recognize the progression from Moral Majority to Tea Party.] Of course, the Roman Catholic hierarchy was well aware of the Christian Zionist theology of the Evangelicals, yet they approved of an alliance with them. Evidently they saw the Evangelicals as the best agency for the promotion of their political action plan. Nevertheless, there was this major theological divergence between them. Christian Zionism is incompatible with Roman Catholicism: Roman Catholicism and Zionism are Irreconcilable In 1904, Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, was granted an audience with Pope St. Pius X. His purpose in meeting with the Pope was to gain support for the founding of a Jewish state in what was then known as Palestine. As Herzl recorded in his diary, the Pope gave an unfavorable response, saying: “We are unable to favor this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem – but we could never sanction it. The ground of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church, I cannot answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people. And so if you come to Palestine and settle your people there, we will be ready with churches and priests to baptize all of you." ( This response might smack of “anti-Semitism” to modern ears, which are ultra-sensitive to criticisms of Zionism. However, as Catholics, we should give deep consideration to the theological and moral implications of the words of this pope-saint. While many Protestant groups are now giving wholesale support of Zionism, Catholics must recognize the inherent dangers to their faith that Zionism presents. Erin Drawson – Pope Francis in Israel and Christian Zionism With many Christian living in Israel and many places being holy to Christians, it seems like the Christian stance on Israel as a state is important. Merkley outlines the history of Christians and their relationship to the State of Israel well, but the relationship with the Roman Catholics is most important in terms of Pope Francis. He documents an exchange between Herzl and Cardinal Merry del Val in 1904, the Cardinal explains: “I do not quite see how we can take any initiative in this matter. As long as the Jews deny the Divinity of Christ, we certainly cannot make a declaration in their favour… How then can we, without abandoning our highest principals, agree to their being given possession of the Holy Land again?” (Cardinal Merry del Val quoted by Merkley, 137). Herzl was asking the Vatican for their support, and was met with unfriendly conversation. “The next formal encounter recorded between official Zionism and the Vatican did not take place until April 1945… when Moshe Shertok of the Jewish Agency was greeted in private audience by Pope Pius XII” (139). This exchange was again unproductive. The Catholic Church was aware of the concept of Zionism and had considered it a possible answer to the Jewish problem, but “until such time as the Roman Catholic church could succeed in making itself the acknowledged custodian of the holy places” they were not willing to support the Zionist movement (139). . . In my research I came across a term I was sorry to have never heard before: Christian Zionism. Naturally I read on to find another very interesting dimension to Israel and its support. Pieterse explains the simple understanding of Israel by Pentecostal and Fundamental groups: “The fundamentalist preacher Jerry Falwell pointed out that “God deals with nations in relation to how nations deal with Israel”. One of the foundations of this belief was the passage in Genesis (12:13), “I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you.” (Pieterse, 75). But this is not the single reason that Christian Zionists are in support of Israel- while fundamental Christians (mostly in the United States) are waiting for the end times, Israel is the most important place to those events. “[I]n apocalyptic Christianity the restoration and conversion of the Jews have often been regarded as signs of the endtime and of the return of Christ being imminent. The endtime or apocalypse, ushers in the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ returned to establish a kingdom of peace” (Pieterse, 76). This interest in Israel is very different from the Catholic understanding of Israel where the Catholic authorities recognize Israel and must co operate with Israel because of the holy sites- the American fundamentalist interest in Israel is much more active, where Israel plays a major role in their vision of the endtime that they are hoping for. . . Of course the topic of “Christian Attitudes towards the State of Israel” has a long history and is very complicated, but over simply- [sic] the Roman Catholic concern is with the control of the holy sites, the mainstream Protestant concern is generally with the place of the Jewish people, and the Evangelical and Fundamentalist concern is with the second coming and Israel’s place in the final battle. The prophecy of Rev. 13:14(b) identifies an [I]Image[I] to the Beast, not the Beast itself, hence the divergence of theology is understandable. However, there is far more that unites the Beast and the Image than divides them: Sunday observance, the immortality of the soul (deceptively hidden in the emotional abortion issue,) the triune God, and a vast array of Roman Catholic social teachings already legislated and being legislated. Furthermore, it is an indisputable fact that the same religio-political power that causes the Image to the Beast to be made, also causes "them that dwell on the earth" to worship the Beast itself. (There is sound biblical exegesis that confines this passage to the electorate which assents to the making of the Image.) The religio-political events of the decades since the late 1970s are a demonstration of the precision with which the prophecy predicts the course of history in the United States of America. What has been fulfilled sets the seal on what is to come in the immediate future. As is indicated by the foregoing, the Image to the Beast is deeply involved in foreign policy, and can be seen to be setting the stage for the final conflicts predicted by Dan. 11:40-44. An event following the Netanyahu speech to Congress accentuates this reality: G.O.P. Senators’ Letter to Iran About Nuclear Deal Angers White House The fractious debate over a possible nuclear deal with Iran escalated on Monday as 47 Republican senators warned Iran about making an agreement with President Obama, and the White House accused them of undercutting foreign policy. In a rare direct congressional intervention into diplomatic negotiations, the Republicans signed an open letter addressed to “leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” declaring that any agreement without legislative approval could be reversed by the next president “with the stroke of a pen.” The letter appeared aimed at unraveling a framework agreement even as negotiators grew close to reaching it. Mr. Obama, working with leaders of five other world powers, argues that the pact would be the best way to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. But critics from both parties say that such a deal would be a dangerous charade that would leave Iran with the opportunity to eventually build weapons that could be used against Israel or other foes. While the possible agreement has drawn bipartisan criticism, the letter, signed only by Republicans, underscored the increasingly party-line flavor of the clash. Just last week, the Republican House speaker, John A. Boehner, gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel the platform of a joint meeting of Congress to denounce the developing deal, and Senate Republicans briefly tried to advance legislation aimed at forcing Mr. Obama to submit it to Congress, alienating Democratic allies. The author of the letter is a freshman Republican Senator from Arkansas. His religio-political connections speak volumes: The Making of a Conservative Superstar Harvard opened the eyes of the idealistic young man to a new world of intellectual possibility. “At Harvard College, I discovered political philosophy as a way of life,” Cotton wrote, a few years later, on the dedication page that preceded his 92-page senior thesis on the Federalist Papers. The thesis, whose contents are revealed here for the first time, provides a window into a political candidate who is otherwise something of a cipher. Cotton, now a 37-year-old first-term congressman challenging Arkansas’ incumbent senior senator, Mark Pryor, has largely been defined by his résumé: the impressive credentials, from Harvard to the elite echelons of the military, and the conservative philosophy, illustrated by a record of votes in Congress that puts him on the rightward extreme of today’s Republican Party. He unites the factions of the Republican civil war: The establishment loves his background, while the Tea Party loves his ideological purity. The Weekly Standard’s editor, William Kristol, considers him one of the GOP's most promising new faces; Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus calls him one of the party’s top recruits; conservative bloggers long to speed the day when he appears on a national ticket. In 2012, he was elected to the House, where one of his first acts was to call for an amendment to a sanctions bill that would impose penalties not only on those who broke the law but also on their relatives, including their “great-grandkids,” “to the third degree of sanguinity.” The amendment failed—as the Washington Post pointed out, it was blatantly unconstitutional—but Cotton didn’t have much time for regret, because he had already decided to run for the Senate against Mark Pryor, the two-term Democratic incumbent, with the backing of the Tea Party Express, the Club for Growth, and national Republican figures who regarded his future as limitless. (Last September, the Atlantic ran a profile of Cotton entitled “The Making of a Conservative Superstar.”) Cotton campaigned by opposing abortion rights and Obamacare, and by appealing to fellow veterans and foreign-policy hawks, while touring the state, as the AP reported, “in a bus decorated with a giant boot print on the front, the Arkansas flag and camouflage.” Last spring, on “Morning Joe,” when asked about suggestions that he was “extreme,” Cotton replied with a reference to Pryor’s record: “The only thing that’s extreme is casting the decisive vote for Obamacare five years ago.” He beat Pryor by seventeen points. In addition to trying to scuttle the Iran talks, during the two months that Cotton has been in the Senate he has attempted to block the release of any more detainees held at Guantánamo, even though nearly half of them have been determined to pose no threat to the United States. Cotton’s recommendation was that the prisoners should “rot in hell.” Something seems to be out of kilter in the political marketplace that yielded Tom Cotton. How are younger legislators with assets like military experience—something in too short supply in Congress—deployed and, more crucially, developed, and which talents are rewarded? In last year’s campaign, Cotton had to answer charges that he was “reckless.” Recklessness now seems to be treated as a charm. Extremism, clumsiness, anger—other Republican members of the Senate, with a few hundred years of tenure between them, took a look and jumped on board. What was so appealing? Or what were they afraid of? This man is not only reckless; he is utterly devoid of compassion and a sense of justice. In the estimation of the Tea Party, which was established by Roman catholic theoconservatives (theocons,) and the Neo-conservative Republican establishment (neocons,) this is the ideal for an elected representative of the American people! The favor bestowed on Tom Cotton by the Tea Party and the neo-conservative Republican establishment alike brings together a dangerous and volatile mix; and this is consistent with Rev. 13, verses 12(b) and 15-17. Multitudes, multitudes, are in the valley of decision! (Joel 3:14.) Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists have misguidedly added their votes to those of the majority who heeded the call to make an Image to the Beast by voting religious zealots and warmongerers into control of the United States Congress. How many will realize their folly before it is too late? After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations, every conceivable power of evil will be set in operation . . . At the time of the loud cry of the third angel those who have been in any measure blinded by the enemy, who have not fully recovered themselves from the snare of Satan, will be in peril, because it will be difficult for them to discern the light from heaven, and they will be inclined to accept falsehood. R&H, December 13, 1892. The prophecy predicted that a deadly wound would be inflicted on Papal Rome. This was fulfilled in 1798, and it appeared that the papacy was finished for all time; however. the prophecy also predicted that the deadly wound would be healed and "all the world wondered [followed] after the beast." (Rev. 13:3.) In present times, the papacy is increasing in preeminence, in all spheres of influence, at an accelerating pace. Note the headline below. The Palestinians place the Vatican first in seeking protection from violent right-wing Jewish settlers:- From [D]@gmail.com: Palestine asks Vatican, UN protection from Jewish settlers The Palestinian foreign ministry calls on the Vatican and on the international community to protect Christian and Muslim sites in the Holy Land, the Palestinian embassy said in a statement Wednesday. . . "We call on the Holy See, the international community, the United Nations and the Security Council...to take responsibility and to put an end to settler attacks against our people, especially in east Jerusalem". Right-wing Israelis and a responsive right-wing Israeli government will always be an obstacle in the way of the papacy's aspirations in Jerusalem: Palestine Appeals To Vatican and UN To Protect Holy Sites “The Ministry laments these continuous aggressions that are carried out under the eyes of the Israeli government, with the presence of their occupation forces, which guarantee the protection of extremist settlers. They are very grave aggression and provocations against places of worship, which we consider official encouragements to violence and extremism, and declarations of war on Jerusalem and its citizens,” reads the press release. According to Palestine’s Embassy, “the Israeli government is totally responsible for these crimes.” The Vatican has in the past supported Palestinian efforts to exert pressure on the Israeli government through the United Nations. (Cf. What a clever strategy!) The obstacle in the way of the papacy's ambitions will be overcome sooner or later. How soon remains to be seen. By his personal interest in the National Prayer Breakfast, Pope Francis continues his determined quest for unity. Primarily a Christian ecumenical event, it also broadens the ecumenical movement to embrace other religions. This is exactly as Pope Francis and the Church of Rome would have it:- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis sends Message to US National Prayer Breakfast - Pope Francis has sent a Message to the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, which was attended by US President Barack Obama, lawmakers from both parties, and thousands of guests. A portion of the Message was read during the event, which has taken place since 1953. The National Prayer Breakfast is a corruption of true Christianity, breeding false piety and hypocrisy. It is also a part of the framework of the Image to the Beast: Political prayer breakfasts are bad religion [A 2010 article] - THERE ARE only three things wrong with the National Prayer Breakfast: the past, the present, and the future. Last week, President Obama presided at the annual Washington event before what the New York Times called “a bipartisan array’’ of national and international figures. “I assure you,’’ he told them, “I’m praying a lot these days.’’ The president went with the flow of public piety, singing prayer’s praises as a source of calm, strength, and civility. It “can touch our hearts with humility,’’ he said. That had the ring of truth, since the prayer breakfast confronts the president with how little personal freedom he has. He could no more boycott the toe-curling display of religiosity than he could remove that flag pin from his lapel. Religion is not supposed to be coercive in this country, but the prayer breakfast is the ultimate command performance, and that is only part of the problem. Washington is the Vatican of a larger cult. In municipalities across the country, and on US military bases worldwide, government officials gather to bow their heads and invoke God’s blessing - an exercise that should seem benign. But these official liturgies are fraught with dangerous implications. . . The breakfasts are “ecumenical,’’ with Jews and Muslims prominently invited, yet the organizing network, the Fellowship Foundation, aggressively promotes Jesus, who has become a kind of mascot of American military culture. . . I once observed to an Air Force general that his “voluntary’’ prayer breakfasts had to feel coercive to his juniors, and he squinted at me, “I’ll call off my prayer breakfast when the commander-in-chief calls off his.’’ It all began in 1953, when Dwight D. Eisenhower presided at the first “Presidential Prayer Breakfast,’’ as it was called then. That year Ike was baptized, and Jesus was openly conscripted into the fight against what Secretary of State John Foster Dulles called “the godless atheism’’ of Communism. Billy Graham, with his “Crusades,’’ was installed as the American pope, and “under God’’ was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. . . The good-versus-evil bi-polarity of the Cold War was enshrined . . . America had reinvented itself as a Messiah nation, with apocalyptic fervor justifying a nuclear readiness to destroy civilization: Better dead than Red. Under Eisenhower, the US nuclear arsenal grew from a few hundred to nearly 19,000 nukes. Jesus, indeed. The national prayer breakfast cannot be fully understood without reference to this history. However “ecumenical’’ its trappings, and whatever the small number of non-Christian participants make of it, the tradition amounts to a religious festival of American Christian nationalism. President Obama spoke of humility, but this overtly theological claim on God’s favor goes to the heart of the imperial hubris that has led to one foreign policy disaster after another - up to and including today’s wars that, despite all protestations, can truly be perceived as religious. . . The framers of the US Constitution were wary of all such public piety. Not for nothing did they omit the word “God’’ from its clauses. As stated in the quotation above, President Eisenhower was actually baptized in 1953, and starting the National Prayer Breakfast was only one of his decisions which laid the foundation for the present momentum towards a theocratic dictatorship in the United States: Jul 30, 1956: President Eisenhower signs "In God We Trust" into law - On this day in 1956, two years after pushing to have the phrase "under God" inserted into the pledge of allegiance, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a law officially declaring "In God We Trust" to be the nation's official motto. The law, P.L. 84-140, also mandated that the phrase be printed on all American paper currency. The phrase had been placed on U.S. coins since the Civil War when, according to the historical association of the United States Treasury, religious sentiment reached a peak. Eisenhower's treasury secretary, George Humphrey, had suggested adding the phrase to paper currency as well. Although some historical accounts claim Eisenhower was raised a Jehovah's Witness, most presidential scholars now believe his family was Mennonite. Either way, Eisenhower abandoned his family's religion before entering the Army, and took the unusual step of being baptized relatively late in his adult life as a Presbyterian. The baptism took place in 1953, barely a year into his first term as president. Although Eisenhower embraced religion, biographers insist he never intended to force his beliefs on anyone. . . President Eisenhower may not have intended to force his beliefs on anyone; however, there is significance in the fact that he embraced Presbyterianism: A PRESBYTERIAN POLITICAL MANIFESTO: PRESBYTERIANISM AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT - For the last two decades or so there has been an apparent increase in the amount of conservative Christian political activism in North America. Many evangelicals and fundamentalists who had previously shunned politics began to see the necessity of political participation in order to prevent the encroachment of the state upon their legitimate activities, such as Christian education, or to prevent national sins, such as legalized abortion. Undoubtedly, this Christian political activity is a positive development in Canada and the United States. More Christians are taking their biblical social responsibilities seriously. But Christian political activism also raises important questions. Is the ultimate political goal of Christians simply to achieve certain conservative government policies, or is something more needed for a completely biblical agenda? Every true Christian can agree on policy outcomes such as eliminating abortion, stopping the homosexual agenda, and protecting parental rights in education, but is that all we can gather from the Scriptures as to God's will for civil government? The learned men who wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith spelled out the basic biblical position on civil government. The "civil magistrate" (i.e., any power- wielding government official such as an elected politician or an unelected judge) is a minister of God (Romans 13:4). He must reward good and punish evil. How is such a person to distinguish "good" from "evil"? By God's authoritative Word, the Bible. Government officials must rule in accordance with the Bible. To put it in different words, Christianity must be the established religion of any society that wants to please God. But to say that God requires societies to be governed according to the Bible raises further questions. Who should interpret the Bible for the civil authorities? Many different groups of conservative Christians have irreconcilable interpretations of the Bible. For example, some professing Christians are completely opposed to capital punishment for any crime, whereas others support it as the just punishment for not only murder, but other crimes as well. Which interpretation is true? In order to resolve this problem a Christian state must be more than Christian in a broad sense of endorsing a general concept of biblical Christianity. It must be Christian in a specific sense; it must have a confession of faith that sets out its theological understanding of the Scriptures and how to interpret them. It is this author's settled conviction that the Westminster Confession of Faith is the most accurate and thoroughgoing account of the doctrines of God's inerrant Word, and is therefore the most reasonable choice for a Christian state to adopt. It is the contention of this paper that the historic Presbyterian view of the necessity for the establishment of Presbyterianism as the official religion of every society is the Scriptural view, and it is the task of this paper to demonstrate that truth to the current generation of Christians. The author is expressing a personal opinion; but he is not misquoting the original Westminster Confession as it related to civil government and Christianity. Although the original Westminster Confession was revised in the United States, it is clear that it has continued to exert influence, as demonstrated by the author and other Presbyterians. It is quite likely that it influenced President Eisenhower. Now the National Prayer Breakfast has contributed greatly to the sanctimoniousness and hypocrisy of modern American politicians: The National Prayer Breakfast shouldn't exist - The National Prayer Breakfast shouldn’t exist, at least not in its present form. While the event is an overwhelmingly Christian gathering, the breakfast is billed as an ecumenical event that celebrates prayer in generic terms. Since members of Congress help organize and host the event, it would be constitutionally questionable if it was officially focused on Christian prayer. So, in the spirit of inclusion and diversity, the event features a few members of other religious traditions. For instance, Dalai Lama attended this year’s breakfast as a special guest. . . In any case, despite the event’s nominal ecumenicism, the conservative, Christian explosion in response to the relatively modest claim that religions other than Islam have the potential to harbor violent sub-denominations shows that the National Prayer Breakfast doesn’t come close to putting all faiths on an equal, elevated playing field. Instead, it is a demonstrably Christian event, organized to further the idea that America is a Christian nation, with a few non-Christians scattered throughout the audience to give the event legitimacy it doesn’t deserve. [Of course, the ecumenicism, nominal though it may be is very much favored by the papacy.] With two sentences about Christianity’s less-rosy past, President Obama scratched the surface of the National Prayer Breakfast’s nominal ecumenicism, showing that the event’s overwhelmingly Christian attendees were fully expecting to hear a series of obediently Christian propitiations, perhaps with some of them shrouded in more inclusive rhetoric. This should go without saying, but apparently it doesn’t: The fact that this is the expectation at an event organized by Congress and attended by the President is wildly problematic. As unlikely as it may be, it would be a good start if our next president doesn’t go. For the reader interested in further historical knowledge, God in the White House is a valid narrative of the presidents' religious beliefs and their impact on politics, from Washington to Obama. This is a particularly enlightening narrative in view of the Religious Right's distortion of the historical relationship between Christianity and the constitution and government of the United States. It would be reprehensible to ignore the turmoil in the Middle East which is giving rise to murder and mayhem around the globe. Taken together with other conflicts in the world, this in itself fulfills a prophecy of Joel 3. According to Seventh-day Adventist eschatology, this is a part of the last days of earth's history. On verse 9 the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary states: Adventist expositors have generally seen in this prophecy a forecast , not only of climactic events associated with the great day of the Lord, but of international military activities in the final days of earth's history. The gradual withdrawal of God's Spirit in these last days leaves the way open for a corresponding increase in satanic activity designed to lead men on to destroy one another. This process will reach its climax just before the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. One might add that verse 10 aptly fits the "war" that terrorists are waging against powerful western nations. The conventional wisdom is that it will take years to defeat ISIS. With the prophetic time clock winding down, this raises the prospect that ISIS will still be around when the actual events of Dan. 11:40-44 are taking place. Years ago Elder Grotheer said that those who thought that they understood the prophecy of Dan. 11:40-44 beyond identifying the general locations of the King of the South and the King of the North were kidding themselves. However, circumstances are changing. ISIS is spreading in the territories of both the King of the South and the King of the North. In the past it was difficult to conceive of any of the modern nations of those regions attacking the "he" of verse 45, a papacy backed by the armies of powerful western nations. Perhaps only madmen such as the ISIS terrorists would undertake such aggression. However, that is to presume exactly how the aggression will take place. Prophecy is often fulfilled in unexpected ways. In any event there are two significant points to consider in relation to ISIS: 1. It is now coming to light that the ISIS geographical strategy is based on Islamic eschatology. - Islamic Eschatology - What are the end-time prophecies of Islam? There are both minor and major signs that point to the climactic event in Islamic eschatology — namely, "the Hour," which is the time of resurrection and judgment. There is a Second Coming of Jesus in Islamic end time events, but it is not considered to be the decisive event. Rather, it is viewed as a sign pointing toward "the Hour." The beginning of the end times is marked by the appearance of the Antichrist, who is called the Dajjal. . . The major signs pointing to "the Hour" are all critical events that are part of the end time sequence of events, beginning with the appearance of the Antichrist. Muslim scholars generally do not try to present a strict chronological order of what is going to ultimately transpire, but the order presented below is representative:
2. The Pope and the papacy are already in the crosshairs of ISIS - Security Beefed Up at Vatican over Islamic State Attack Fears As Islamic State (ISIS) extends its reach in Iraq and Syria, the fears of the brutal jihadist group committing a terror attack in western states continue to grow. Just this weekend it was revealed the Vatican increased security over intelligence reports of a possible attack on Pope Francis. . . Just two weeks ago Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano warned the Italian lower house of parliament that Italy and Rome - including the Vatican - are a principal target of ISIS, given that it is a symbol of the West and Christianity. While Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi tried to play down the recent increase in security, saying they had not received warnings of a "particular threat or cause for concern," Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican Habeeb Al Sadr shared a less blithe appraisal. Al Sadr warned last week that ISIS sees Pope Francis as a key target, and may try to assassinate him during his upcoming trip to Albania on Sunday. "What has been declared by the self-declared Islamic State is clear – they want to kill the Pope. The threats against the Pope are credible," Al Sadr told La Nazione on Tuesday. After beheading Coptic Christians, Islamists say they will ‘conquer Rome’ next The video shows men apparently being beheaded after being forced to kneel next to the Mediterranean Sea. A militant says they are sending a message “from the south of Rome”. At the end of the footage the same English-speaking fighter raises his knife to the water and says ISIS would “conquer Rome”. Vatican Addresses Report Saying Pope Francis Is An ISIS Target In an article published Monday, Italy's Il Tempo newspaper reported that the pope is a target of ISIS. The paper, citing an unnamed Italian intelligence source, states the pope -- who is considered the "bearer of false truths" by the group -- is "in the crosshairs of ISIS" and that the extremist group plans to "raise the level of confrontation" by attacking Italy and greater Europe. . . ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is behind the group's offense to overtake large regions of Iraq and Syria in an effort to establish its own Islamic State, issued a threat against Rome earlier this summer, near the start of Ramadan. "Rush O Muslims to your state. It is your state. Syria is not for Syrians and Iraq is not for Iraqis. The land is for the Muslims, all Muslims," he said in an audio recording posted online and reported by the Telegraph. "This is my advice to you. If you hold to it you will conquer Rome and own the world, if Allah wills." . . . While he has not endorsed American airstrikes against the group, Pope Francis has said ISIS must be stopped. "I can only say this: It is licit to stop the unjust aggressor. I underline the verb: stop. I do not say bomb, make war, I say stop by some means," he said during a press conference last week, according to CNN. . . While it is too soon to see a clear line of events to the fulfillment of Dan. 11:40-44, there are unmistakeable signs that this is yet another sure Word of prophecy verifying that the final events of this world's history are now in progress. When the popes speak, especially when addressing gatherings such as the one in the following report, their words flow from the wellspring of Roman Catholic history and traditions. Pope Francis is no exception, however original or innocuous his pronouncements may appear to be to those who are captivated by Vatican II and Rome's current charm offensive. The religio-political terms used by him are pregnant with meaning:- From [I]@yahoo.com: The love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14). In today’s first reading Saint Paul tells us that the love we are called to proclaim is a reconciling love, flowing from the heart of the crucified Savior. We are called to be “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:20). Ours is a ministry of reconciliation. We proclaim the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion. We proclaim the joy of the Gospel. For the Gospel is the promise of God’s grace, which alone can bring wholeness and healing to our broken world. It can inspire the building of a truly just and redeemed] social order. "Ours is a ministry of reconciliation.": The Sacrament of Reconciliation: Rising Again to New Life Although often called Reconciliation in common usage, the term "penance" best describes the essential interior disposition required for this sacrament. In fact, there is a virtue of penance. This is a supernatural virtue by which we are moved to detest our sins from a motive made known by faith, and with an accompanying purpose of offending God no more and of making satisfaction for our sins. In this sense the word "penance" is synonymous with "penitence" or "repentance." "We proclaim the joy of the Gospel." What the Roman Catholic "Gospel" embraces is set out in the following article, which contrasts that "Gospel" with biblical Christianity. The biblical references appear to be sound, although the commentary on purgatory is ambiguous in that it is not clear whether the two destinations are reached immediately after death or at the first and second resurrections respectively: Perhaps one of the most important events in the history of the Roman Catholic Church is the Council of Trent (1545–1563). This gathering sought to counter and respond to the Protestant Reformation. It was at this ecumenical meeting that Rome ultimately anathematized, or condemned, the biblical doctrine of justification . . . The Christian will recognize that these condemnations of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone stand in direct contradiction to Scripture and amount to an anathema upon the Gospel itself. Romans 3:20–28, 4:3, 5:1, Galatians 3:1–3, Ephesians 2:8–9 and Colossians 2:13–14 are just a few of the numerous passages that address the various condemnations which Rome set forth at the Council of Trent. "For the Gospel is the promise of God’s grace . . ." The Roman Catholic concept of God's grace is a philosophical contradiction of the biblical doctrine: Grace (gratia, Charis), in general, is a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures (men, angels) for their eternal salvation, whether the latter be furthered and attained through salutary acts or a state of holiness. Eternal salvation itself consists in heavenly bliss resulting from the intuitive knowledge of the Triune God, who to the one not endowed with grace "inhabiteth light inaccessible" (1 Timothy 6:16). Christian grace is a fundamental idea of the Christian religion, the pillar on which, by a special ordination of God, the majestic edifice of Christianity rests in its entirety. Among the three fundamental ideas — sin, redemption, and grace — grace plays the part of the means, indispensable and Divinely ordained, to effect the redemption from sin through Christ and to lead men to their eternal destiny in heaven. . . Since the end and aim of all efficacious grace is directed to the production of sanctifying grace where it does not already exist, or to retain and increase it where it is already present, its excellence, dignity, and importance become immediately apparent; for holiness and the sonship of God depend solely upon the possession of sanctifying grace, wherefore it is frequently called simply grace without any qualifying word to accompany it as, for instance, in the phrases "to live in grace" or "to fall from grace". "It can inspire the building of a truly just and redeemed social order" The Roman Catholic claim of redemptive power is staggering: The Roman Catholic view of the Roman Catholic Church [The Roman Catholic Church] is the minister of redemption (1471) because only through it can full salvation come (Vatican 2, Decree on Ecumenism, 3). . . 'An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.' Finally, "just" and "social order" are allied. While there may be dissertations in which "social justice" is not connected to "social order," one would be hard put to find them. In every one of the following articles, "Social Justice" and "social order" are connected. The reader may do a search within the documents for "social order." - Few terms have become as unmoored from their Catholic origins, and have thus lent themselves to misunderstanding in contemporary discourse, as has the term “social justice.” What does the term mean when it appears in papal documents—particularly when it appeared in the formative years of Catholic social teaching? . . . 'Social Justice' is a Complex Concept In his 1991 social encyclical "Centesimus Annus," Pope John Paul II warned that a bloated state "leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase in public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concerns for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending." I call that prophetic. Let's also be clear that the Church's teaching condemns the idolatry of money and material goods. The Church finds another way, neither condemning market activities nor exalting them beyond their rightful place in the grand scheme of things. It asks us to work for the highest good and to contribute as we can our time, talents and wealth that we have earned for the betterment of the world. The Church also demands that we build just systems of trade that enable the poor to be the agents of their own betterment. Social justice from religious traditions Even before it was propounded in the Catholic social doctrine, social justice appeared regularly in the history of the Catholic Church:
While the advocacy of social justice can now be found in the ranks of a range of political and religious thinkers, it derives from an original Roman Catholic concept. Pope Francis is an advocate of Roman Catholic supremacy in every fiber of his being. Multitudes will wake up to this fact when it is too late to escape it. It was described as a meeting which "broke a 200-year-old tradition which has seen few US politicians publicly courting the Catholic Church." In 1979 John Paul II became "the first Pope to set foot in the White House":- 1979: President Carter praises Pope's courage Around 40,000 people gathered to see the Pope hold a Mass for 1,000 priests at St Matthew's Cathedral in Washington before he travelled to the White House on the last day of his tour of six American cities. As he arrived he was welcomed by nearly 7,000 government and church dignitaries. President Carter addressed John Paul II in Polish before he turned to the crowd and said: "For those of you who may not speak Polish, that means 'May God be praised'." . . . Later the Pope and the President entered the White House where Mr. Carter was blessed by the pontiff [in fact the "blessing" embraced all of the assembled government dignitaries representing the nation.] Beyond a shadow of a doubt, this event was a great landmark in the history of the American nation. Now another great and profoundly significant landmark is scheduled:- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis to Address Congress on September 24 The Pope confirmed last month that he will visit Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia during the first trip of his papacy to the United States. The address will be the first time a Pope has addressed a joint session of Congress. Boehner extended an open invitation to Pope Francis last March, saying that the first Pope from the Americas "has inspired millions of Americans with his pastoral manner and servant leadership, challenging all people to lead lives of mercy, forgiveness, solidarity, and humble service." This event comes after over three decades of advancement of the Church of Rome's legislative agenda in the United States, first stealthily, but now with increasing openness to the view of all who can recognize religio-political legislation when they see it:- Boehner announces Pope Francis accepts historic invitation will address Congress One upcoming joint address to Congress has bipartisanship support; Pope Francis has accepted Speaker of the House John Boehner's, R-OH invitation and will become the first pontiff to address Congress on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. Boehner announced at the GOP leadership press conference on Thursday, Feb. 5 that the pope will address Congress, saying, "We're humbled that the Holy Father has accepted our invitation and certainly look forward to receiving his message on behalf of the American people." Boehner made the announcement Thursday morning, stating, "It is my great privilege to announce that His Holiness Pope Francis will visit the United States Capitol on Thursday, September 24, 2015." The speech is scheduled for the day after Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, while Congress is out on a recess, still to hear the pope speak the chamber will be full. The speaker noted, "It will be a historic visit, and we are truly grateful that Pope Francis has accepted our invitation." This is first time a pontiff or a religious head of state has addressed Congress. Continuing Boehner articulated, "In a time of global upheaval, the Holy Father's message of compassion and human dignity has moved people of all faiths and backgrounds. His teachings, prayers, and very example bring us back to the blessings of simple things and our obligations to one another. We look forward to warmly welcoming Pope Francis to our Capitol and hearing his address on behalf of the American people." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA was equally excited about Pope Francis coming to speak to Congress. In her statement responding, she called him "the first pontiff born in the Americas." Continuing Pelosi expressed, "Pope Francis has renewed the faith of Catholics worldwide and inspired a new generation of people, regardless of their religious affiliation, to be instruments of peace," the California Democrat said. "In the spirit of the namesake of San Francisco, St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis' universal message of love and compassion speaks to millions around the world. We are eager to welcome His Holiness to the U.S. Capitol and we look forward to hearing his call to live our values, to protect the poor and the needy, and to promote peace." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY also issued a statement, welcoming the announcement and the pontiff's upcoming speech. McConnell commented, "The American people look forward to hearing Pope Francis' call to love our neighbors and to find new and creative ways to meet the pressing needs of those who exist on the fringes of society. From the slums of Buenos Aires to St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis is moving the hearts of millions and inspiring a new generation with an engaging and compelling style. I join Speaker Boehner in welcoming this inspirational leader, with his simple message of compassion and openness to others, to the Capitol." So there it is: an "historic invitation," "the first time a pontiff or a religious head of state has addressed Congress," "bipartisanship support," the Democratic Party's House Minority Leader "equally excited ." Who among diligent Bible students can fail to recognize the Image to the Beast in this landmark event? It is a glaring manifestation! The Image to the Beast has been formed for quite some time and has been speaking, gradually advancing the legislative agenda of Rome and ensnaring the many who have abandoned sound doctrine and the sure Word of prophecy, or who refuse to walk in the increasing light of advancing Truth. The "facts on the ground" clearly show that it is a grave mistake to continue to look for a national Sunday law, or to be of a frame of mind that fails to recognize the significance of the conjunction "both" in Rev. 13:15. Life has already been given to the beast, and it speaks as it progresses towards the fulfillment of Rev. 13:15b-17. * Abortion; Subsidiarity (translated into "limited government;" N.B. "The crusade against Big Government rages"); Natural Law Legislation etc. Pope Francis continues to promote his goal of "Christian Unity":- From [D]@gmail.com: Pope Francis calls for Christian Unity In a service rich with music and prayer the Pope said there should be more focus on what unites Christians. "So many past controversies between Christians can be overcome when we put aside all polemical or apologetic approaches, and seek instead to grasp more fully what unites us," said the Pope. "We need to realize that, to plumb the depths of the mystery of God, we need one another, we need to encounter one another and to challenge one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who harmonizes diversities and overcomes conflicts," Francis continued. But the conditions for true Christian unity are nonexistent - Except for those who have departed from the Protestant faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1,) including Seventh-day Adventists. With the electorate clamoring for legislative action to better the economic condition of the people, the totally Republican controlled House of Representatives continues to give priority to the Roman Catholic agenda - religious ideology violating the separation of church and state. Difficulties and embarassment ensue because of the extremes to which the ideology inevitably leads:- GOP Leaders Pull Abortion Bill After Revolt by Women, Moderates Some Republicans worried that the 20-week abortion measure might alienate millennials and female voters. But many female lawmakers were also furious over its clause stating that women can be exempt from the ban in cases of rape only if they reported the rape to authorities. House GOP Cancels 20-Week Abortion Ban Vote, Introduces Another Anti-Choice Bill To avoid disappointing the hordes of anti-choice marchers descending on Washington, D.C., for the March for Life, Republicans will pinch-hit with another bill from their deep bench of anti-choice legislation—a bill to restrict federal funding for abortion coverage. . .It’s unclear how many female GOP “no” votes leadership would have actually seen on the 20-week ban, given that Rep. Renee Ellmers (R- NC), who led the charge to change the ban’s rape exceptions and removed herself as a co-sponsor, said she would have still voted for the bill. . . Given that Ellmers had also warned that the party risked turning off young voters by focusing on the abortion ban so soon after taking control of Congress, her concerns seem to have been more about optics and timing than substance. It is glaringly evident that the Republican party is obsessed with the abortion issue. That the Roman Catholic Church itself is obsessed with abortion is expressly stated by Pope Francis: Pope Francis: Roman Catholic Church ‘Obsessed’ With Abortion, Contraception, Homosexuality As the Times reports, Pope Francis seeks to make the church more welcoming. “This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people,” he said. “We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.” While the Roman Catholic Church frequently focuses on issues like contraception and abortion, the pope himself thinks the church should take a step back. He told his interviewer, “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.” As it is a question of public relations with those who revolted against the 20-week abortion ban, so it is a matter of making the church more welcoming. There is a snare here, both in Republican politics and in Pope Francis' preferred policy. The Pope's opposition to abortion and contraception has been expressly stated along with euthanasia, and homosexuality (referenced above,) the latter of which in particular places the pontiff on solid biblical ground, although he would not claim the Bible as his primary authority: Pope calls abortion, euthanasia, IVF sins 'against God the creator' - Catholic moral teaching forbids abortion, euthanasia, the use artificial reproduction technologies such as in-vitro fertilization and research that involves the destruction of human embryos. Pope Francis Challenges Filipinos: Families are Your Greatest Treasure, Oppose Abortion - Pope Francis, in referencing the goodness and truth proclaimed by predecessors Saint Pope Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, further stated: In the moment of challenge of the growth of the population, we have the strength to defend openness to life. The Philippines need loving families to protect the beauty and truth of God’s plan as ‘the future passes through the family.’ So protect your families — it’s your country’s greatest treasure…. Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death. What a gift this would be to society, if every Christian family lived fully its noble vocation! Our world needs good and strong families to overcome these threats. That phrase "christians don't have to procreate 'like rabbits'" is pregnant with Roman Catholic doctrine on marital relations. The position of the papacy on both abortion and contraception are based on dogmatic claims of the Roman Catholic Church. To some minds, the attempted legislation banning 20-week abortions is baffling; but it should not be: House Leadership Should Thank GOP Women for Thwarting Anti-Abortion Bill - Whether it was conviction or politics that led House Republican women to object, the party's leadership should probably be thankful that they stopped the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" from hitting the House floor yesterday. From a political standpoint, the legislation—which would have banned abortion after 5 months pregnancy—was baffling. After a midterm election spent making Democrat's "GOP War on Women" rhetoric look a little silly, one of the first things Republicans do in the new Congress is introduce federal abortion restrictions? And on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade at that? That's just spiteful. It's exactly the kind of thing that makes popular ideas about the party being anti-woman seem true. Identification of the Republican Party with the Roman Catholic Church, and the party's aggressive promotion of Roman Catholic teachings is irrefutably based on facts: The Vatican Connection: How the Roman Catholic Church Influences the Republican Party - However, although Dole’s endorsement of the Catholic political agenda, along with a similar endorsement by the Republican Party platform, made the Republican Party in effect a religious or sectarian party, it is even more significant that the Catholic bishops took action to aid the Republican Party. The president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Anthony M. Pilla of Cleveland, departed from custom to tell the 250 bishops that, although they should not engage in partisan politics, they could address political issues that might be closer to the views of one party. Then, after a “stinging attack on President Clinton’s veto of a measure that banned a type of late-term abortion,” the bishops, according to the June 24 New York Times, “unanimously endorsed [Dole’s] appeal to Congress to overturn the veto.” Meet the ‘evangelical’ Catholics who are remaking the GOP - How many voters know that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is a Roman Catholic? Or that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is a Southern Baptist, not a Latino Catholic? Or that Florida Sen. Marco Rubio worships at both a Catholic parish and an evangelical church? More importantly, does it matter? Actually, it does in today’s Republican Party, where a number of factors have forged a new religious identity that supersedes familiar old categories. These prominent Republicans are emblematic of the new religious amalgam that, in many instances, has helped refashion denominational differences that were once almost insurmountable. Look no further than the stunning Virginia primary victory of Dave Brat, a Catholic with degrees from a Reformed Protestant college in Michigan and Princeton Theological Seminary, who took down House Majority Leader Eric Cantor last week. Running in a conservative district in the Richmond suburbs, Brat is described as both a Catholic and Calvinist, labels that would be considered incompatible in almost any realm. He’s a champion of a resurgent movement among Catholic intellectuals that seeks to marry Catholic social teaching with free-market economic libertarianism. Recent presidential elections have elevated several evangelicals, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. But heading into the 2014 midterm elections, several of the Republican Party’s emerging leaders are Catholic, including some who maintain evangelical backgrounds or tendencies. The challenge for Catholic politicians might be finding the balancing act between a Catholic and an evangelical appeal, said Amy E. Black, a political science professor at Wheaton College in Illinois. “While the Catholic faith used to be a liability, it might even be an asset now,” Black said. “Evangelicals are a solid voting bloc in the Republican Party, whereas Catholics are likely to be swing voters. Republican presidential candidates know they need to appeal to evangelical voters, and they want to win over as many Catholic voters as they can.” Evangelicals have been relatively predictable in the past few elections, while Catholics have been less so. . . Cf. Rev. 13:11-18. There will be further examination of this critical subject, which is directly related to receiving the Mark of the Beast, in future postings on this web page. Ecumenical acclamation by non-Catholic church leaders for Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines. The SDA Elder's statement is somewhat ambiguous:- From [D]@gmail.com: Non-Catholic groups believe papal visit will strengthen Filipinos’ faith in God The title of this report speaks volumes. How in the world can the office-holder who is prophetically described by the Apostle Paul as "that Wicked (One)" ['o anomoV - "he in whom all iniquity has fixed its abode" - Thayer] (II Thess. 2:8,) strengthen faith in the True God. This is the "deceivableness of unrighteousness" mentioned by Paul in verse 10, the great deception of our time - the time of the end. The culmination of this deception is the acceptance of Satan impersonating Jesus Christ. None but those who are sanctified by the Truth, which is the Word of God (John 17:17,) are protected when God sends them [those who "received not the Truth, that they might be saved"] "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thess. 2:11.) Those in deep apostasy from the Protestant Reformation declare that "mutual condemnations at the time of the 16th century Reformation do not apply to their current teaching." This prophetic condemnation ensuing from repudiation of sound doctrine by the Lutherans is stated in explicit terms by the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Spirit of Truth, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess. 2:8-12):- From [D]@gmail.com: ‘Epoch-Making Turning Point’ from Conflict to Communion Junge and Koch took the opportunity to announce plans for a common liturgical guide in connection with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, of which publication is scheduled for 2015. Looking towards 2017, the Lutheran - Roman Catholic material is intended to enable churches all over the world to review the 500 years of Reformation. The guide will follow on from the dialogue document From Conflict to Communion published by both partners in 2013, and transpose it into liturgical acts. The material will reflect the structure of this document with its triple form of penitence for the wounds mutually inflicted; joy at the insights and dimensions of the Reformation; and hope for unity. Do the terms "communion" and "common liturgical guide" envisage "visible unity" by participation in the Roman Eucharist? Lutherans, Vatican move closer on 500-year Reformation anniversary cooperation The general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Rev. Martin Junge, says relations between the Lutheran and Catholic churches have reached an epoch-making turning-point. He was speaking during preparations for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017 when Lutheran and Catholics are expected to cooperate in an act of Christian unity. Junge was speaking during a discussion December 18 in the Lutheran church in Rome, where he said the relationship between Lutherans and Catholics is being transformed "from conflict to communion," the LWF said in a December 19 statement. . . . The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century schism within Western Christianity started by people questioning Catholic doctrine and practices, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The panelists in Rome agreed on the question of a joint act of repentance between Lutherans and Catholics. . . . LWF and PCPCU representatives had jointly signed their joint declaration on October 31, 1999 in Augsburg, Germany, officially declaring that mutual condemnations at the time of the 16th century Reformation do not apply to their current teaching. (Cf. THE JOINT DECLARATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION) CARRIED OVER FROM 2014: Another Bush wants to be president, and he is the most dangerous of all. Militant Roman Catholic politician Rick Santorum described George W. Bush as "the first Roman Catholic President;" but as a Methodist, he was essentially a "fellow traveler." Jeb Bush is a deeply committed member of the church of Rome (Cf. That all-but-missing detail about Jeb Bush’s life.) Fanatical Roman Catholics have a dream social organization for America. Ave Maria, Florida, is the model, and it exists thanks to a law passed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush:- Getting Medieval: In Florida, A Catholic Mogul Seeks To Base An Entire Town On His Personal Theology The small town of Ave Maria, Fla., is home to Ave Maria University, a strictly Catholic institution – and critics say, an undemocratic form of government dominated by one man’s interpretation of religious doctrine. The community of about 2,500 souls is a project of eccentric millionaire and Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, who reportedly planned the town as an ultra- conservative Catholic enclave in an isolated stretch of Florida countryside. Now, outsiders are raising concerns about the constitutionality of Monaghan’s dream town, which is centred around a large Catholic church. . . If it seems a bit unusual that one man possesses so much control over the government of a town, that’s because it is. Thanks to a law passed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Monaghan co-owns the town along with the Barron-Collier development company – and they can retain that control for perpetuity. Ave Maria holds no elections. Every member of its governing board has been handpicked by Monaghan and Barron-Collier. And that, along with Monaghan’s decision to restrict contraception access and make moral decisions for the people living under his rule, raises serious issues. Essentially, Monaghan plans to draw a line in the sand against a trend he deems evil. Even as the rapidly growing church lists right worldwide and a few rock-ribbed Catholic orders—most notably Opus Dei—are surging, American Catholics are becoming ever more progressive. . . . Monaghan's campaign may be a first in Catholic history. For centuries, the church's schools have always been headed up by a religious order—the Benedictines, for instance, or the Jesuits. Monaghan, though, is stealing a page from Protestant evangelicals such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and invoking a decidedly corporate structure. "I'm a businessman," he's pronounced. "I get to the bottom line.... And the bottom line is to help people get to heaven." To conservatives, Monaghan is a deep-pocketed savior. Florida governor Jeb Bush, a converted Catholic, made Ave Maria Town a special tax district like Disney World, giving the self-appointed Board of Supervisors (run by Monaghan's development partner) wideonging powers and exempting the town from state and local laws. John DiIulio Jr., once George W. Bush's director of faith-based initiatives, is on the university's board of regents, and Pope Benedict XVI—who has bemoaned the "dictatorship of relativism"—sees great hope in Monaghan's school. A former student of the pope, Reverend Joseph Fessio, is the provost there, and when Fessio visited Rome recently, he reported that the pope asked, "How's Ave Maria?" Separating Church and State Still an Issue in the US It bills itself as "southwest Florida's newest hometown . . . A town where children can ride their bikes to school, walk to the candy store and scoot their way to the ice cream shop. Where neighbors are friends and life is good. Where everyone enjoys life as it is meant to be lived." Yes, it sounds like Mayberry, USA, but this is not the description of a made-for-TV utopia. Indeed, it's a very real place created by Domino's Pizza founder and former Detroit Tigers' owner Tom Monaghan, in partnership with the Florida-based Barron Collier companies. Indeed, Ave Maria, Florida, was founded as an unincorporated "stewardship community district" in 2005. Florida's then-governor Jeb Bush attended Ave Maria's groundbreaking and dubbed it "a new kind of town where like-minded people live in harmony between faith and freedom." Faith? Freedom? For Monaghan, the two are inseparable, and he has trumpeted his intention of creating a city "according to strict Roman Catholic principles." As he sees it, this means that stores will be unable to sell pornography, pharmacies will be barred from selling condoms or other forms of birth control, and cable TV will not be allowed to carry X-rated channels. Small wonder that civil libertarians, secular humanists and those who believe in religious pluralism have a host of questions about church-state separation in Ave Maria. Their fears ramped up after an article in Catholicstand.com hailed the town's religious foundation. "This small town used to be 1,000 acres of tomato plant and has been transformed into a college town with modern amenities and a very distinct religious lifestyle . . . Catholic culture is apparent everywhere, in street names such as Assisi, Avila and Cana . . . The entire town was built around and revolves around the center: The Oratory." Another indicator of Jeb Bush's commitment to Roman Catholic ideology is the Terry Schiavo case: Both of the brothers Bush, George W. and Jeb, were deeply involved in the blatant government intervention into the case, the one at the federal level, and the other at the level of the State of Florida (Jeb's hands were already unclean from his role in the theft of the 2000 presidential election.) The intervention was a violation of the US Constitution's separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The attempt to impose religious right-wing ideology inspired by the Roman Catholic Church was also an assault on the separation of Church and State guaranteed by the Constitution. Here the Image to the Beast was plainly visible, had been since 2001, and was beginning to speak - I was stunned when the Florida legislature and Governor Jeb Bush, for religious reasons, intervened in a case that belonged in the courts. At that point I began to track events surrounding Terri Sciavo. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the U.S. Congress and President would get involved. The silver-lining in Terri Schiavo's sad death is that it illustrates the basic thesis of this web site: the theocratic right has taken working control of the Republican Party and is using it as a base from which to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of the country. Jeb Bush, Still Playing Politics Over the Dead Body of Terri Schiavo On June 15, Pinellas County Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin released his long-awaited, thirty-nine page autopsy report on Terri - a report that included extensive evidence from neuropathologists who had examined her brain and spinal cord. . . In particular, the report showed that, as over a decade of court wrangling had already proved, Terri had been in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). Indeed, the report also found that her brain had atrophied to half normal size, and that she was blind, the visual areas of her brain having been destroyed. Nevertheless, the autopsy left an opening for politics to once again insert itself into the case - prompting Gov. Bush to instruct the state's Attorney General to investigate Michael Schiavo. As I will explain, there is no good reason to investigate. Rather, this investigation is simply a continuation of the politics that have always surrounded the Schiavo case, as I argued in an earlier column for this site. Terri Schiavo's case doesn't end with her passing Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case six times, most recently Wednesday. Hundreds of protesters camped outside the hospice here where she was a patient. (Related video: Years in the courts) By the time she died at 9:05 a.m. ET, the case was an international story. The van transporting her body to the Pinellas County medical examiner's office was shown live on TV. An autopsy will be performed. Even the Vatican got involved. Shortly after her death, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican's office for sainthood, called the removal of the feeding tube "an attack against God." (Related story: Reaction at the Vatican) President Bush said Thursday, "The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak." His brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who pushed hard to intervene, said, "Her experience will heighten awareness of the importance of families dealing with end-of-life issues, and this is an incredible legacy." Vatican addresses Terri Schiavo case, end-of-life issues The Vatican was also asked by the U.S. bishops about another situation which is reminiscent of the Terri Schiavo case. The prelates asked, “When nutrition and hydration are being supplied by artificial means to a patient in a 'permanent vegetative state,' may they be discontinued when competent physicians judge with moral certainty that the patient will never recover consciousness?” The response from the Vatican maintained clear and consistent respect for life at all its stages. The CDF responded, “No. A patient in a 'permanent vegetative state' is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means." Echoing a key distinction that Pope John Paul II made in a 2004 speech, Levada said, “[T]he provision of water and food, even by artificial means, always represents a 'natural means' for preserving life, and is not a 'therapeutic treatment.' The late Holy Father’s teaching was in direct opposition to those argued that food and water can be considered extraordinary means to prolong a patient’s life. The "respect for life at all stages" of course embraces the fetus in a woman's womb. As pointed out repeatedly in the past, the "pro-life" movement is a vehicle for Roman Catholic dogma and ideology. The Image to the Beast began to speak clearly during the George W. Bush years, and although the speech may now seem to be muted, the laws expressing that speech continue to be passed on both the federal and state levels in the United States; particularly at the state level. The small corporate body of Ave Maria, Florida, is a dream social organization of fanatical Roman Catholics. Now consider the constitution of the Republic of Ireland. That constitution is essentially a Roman Catholic document. Inevitably, as with Rome's Social Doctrine in general, and the claims made for the universality of the Magisterium or Teaching Authority of the Church, there are government intrusions into the individual citizen's freedom of choice. The constitution was drafted by the government of Ireland in close collaboration with a prominent priest of the Roman Catholic Church. Ultimately the Pope had to approve: The Irish Constitution or Bunreacht na hÉireann was enacted by the people on 1st July 1937. From early 1937, the then head of government, Éamon de Valera was bombarded with letters almost daily from Fr John McQuaid C.S.Sp. They contained suggestions, viewpoints, documents and learned references on nearly every aspect of what was to become Bunreacht na hÉireann/the Constitution of Ireland. McQuaid was the persistent adviser, 'one of the great architects of the Constitution, albeit in the shadows.' (quoted in John Charles McQuaid: Ruler of Catholic Ireland, Chapter 8: Co-maker of the Constitution) McQuaid's central, possibly pivotal, role in the writing of the Constitution was somewhat frustrated by de Valera's refusal to enshrine the absolute claims of the Catholic Church as the Church of Christ. . . De Valera and the Church’s special position PRESIDENT Éamon de Valera signed into law the constitutional amendment abolishing article 44’s recognition of “the special position” of the Catholic Church on Jan 5, 1973. Ironically, the clause dealing with religion had caused de Valera the greatest anxiety in drafting the Constitution in 1937. He had sought “to produce a constitution which would not require any fundamental change when the unity of Ireland was accomplished”. Subject to “public order and morality”, the proposed constitution guaranteed “fundamental rights”, like freedoms of speech, conscience, association, and assembly, as well as habeas corpus, and the inviolability of one’s home. All citizens were equal before the law, and there was protection against religious discrimination. Nevertheless, the Constitution accorded closely with Catholic thinking. “The Most Holy Trinity” was described as the source of all authority in the Preamble. The document was drafted with the help of the President of Blackrock College, Dr John Charles McQuaid, who was shortly to become Archbishop of Dublin. De Valera showed early proofs of the document to some colleagues, who raised strong objections to the religious clause. “The State acknowledges that the true religion is that established by Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ Himself, which he committed to his Church to protect and propagate, as the guardian and interpreter of true morality,” the article read. “It acknowledges, moreover, that the Church of Christ is the Catholic Church.” . . . Joseph Cardinal MacRory, the Irish Primate, opposed the new wording. Both he and de Valera appealed to the Pope. “The Holy Father at first agreed with me,” MacRory wrote. But de Valera sent Joseph Walshe, secretary at the Department of External Affairs, to the Vatican to explain the difficulties that such a triumphal recognition would cause, in view of the sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland. Walshe persuaded the Vatican not to oppose the new wording. Explainer: What is the 8th Amendment? The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1983 was effected after a referendum which asked Irish people to vote on the State’s abortion laws. In order to make a change to the constitution, a referendum has to be held. This was done on 7 September 1983. The wording of the amendment is: The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right. . . The Amendment acknowledges the right to life of the unborn, equating it with the mother’s right to life. A case decided by the Irish Court is illustrative of the harsh impact of Roman Catholic ideology, and its invasiveness: A brain-dead Irish woman’s body is being used as an incubator. Be angry In Ireland, a woman who is clinically dead but 17 weeks pregnant is being kept alive against her family’s will. At this painful time, her relatives must go to court to stop the Irish state treating their loved one’s body as a cadaveric incubator. Do those facts emotionally affect you? Then please calm down. What we need here is balance. Indeed, the Irish media considers it a moral virtue to trot out pro-life arguments alongside the facts of each and every new horror story that arises from Ireland’s abortion laws. There are two sides to this debate, after all. And Taoiseach Enda Kenny has cautioned us against “knee-jerk” reactions to sensitive cases such as this. What is the opposite of a knee-jerk reaction? Is it a tropism towards the light so slow that we wither and die in the dark? Because I think that might be a more fitting analogy here. In 1983, due largely to pressure from Catholic lobby groups, Ireland became, as Fintan O’Toole puts it, the only country in the democratic world to have a constitutional ban on abortion. The eighth amendment holds that the right to life of a pregnant woman cannot be privileged over that of a foetus. . . An Irish prelate has made a surprisingly enlightened statement about this case - Catholic Archbishop: A Woman Is Not “Simply An Incubator” For Childbirth Enter an unlikely advocate for the family’s right to take the woman off life support: the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin. In his appearance on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, the Archbishop made a startling revelation that seems to stray away from traditional Catholic teachings regarding life: “From the point of view of Catholic teaching in general medical ethics, there is no obligation to use extraordinary means to maintain a life. That applies both to the woman and to the child. A woman isn’t simply an incubator, the relation between a woman and a child is a relationship and it is very clear that one has to examine at what stage is this fetus, what are the possibilities, is it right to use extraordinary means to prolong that life if it is not going to move.” It only took 20 centuries to figure this out. Better late than never. Martin continued, saying: “It should be within the area of the medical profession, but there seems to be a polarisation and a fear that if things go wrong then there will be a difficulty legally or with insurance and so on. It’s a pity that these have to come to the courts. We should have a more robust, open and less conflictual situation.” It seems Pope Francis’ commonsense tone is resonating across the Catholic landscape. The influence of Pope Francis is certainly sweeping through the Roman Catholic Church. Does this kinder, gentler tone indicate a real reformation of a true Christian Church? Not at all! It is the more dangerous for masking the true nature of the Beast while gathering more followers from the world at large (Rev. 13:3.) Of necessity there will be much about the prophetic significance of the "Pro-life" movement in the United States (the second beast of Revelation 13,) in the 2015 edition of Final World Events in Prophecy Foreshadowed. BOOKMARKS The Firm Foundation of Our Faith Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, [Older brethren among the pioneers are here thus reminiscently referred to. “Father Pierce” was Stephen Pierce, who served in ministerial and administrative work in the early days. “Father Andrews” was Edward Andrews, the father of J. N. Andrews.—Compilers.] Elder [Hiram] Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. Again and again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power. When they came to the point in their study where they said, “We can do nothing more,” the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me. Selected Messages Book 1, Pp. 206-207 We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones. —Testimonies for the Church 9:11 (Emphasis added) Time and Place to be Considered Regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered. Nothing must be done untimely. Some matters must be withheld because some persons would make an improper use of the light given. Every jot and tittle is essential and must appear at an opportune time. -Selected Messages Book 1, p. 57.2 Online Etymology Dictionary - "Propaganda": 1718, "committee of cardinals in charge of Catholic missionary work," short for Congregatio de Propaganda Fide "congregation for propagating the faith," a committee of cardinals established 1622 by Gregory XV to supervise foreign missions. . . Etymology of"Propaganda" - Wikipedia: Propaganda is a modern Latin word, the gerundive form of propagare, meaning to spread or to propagate, thus propaganda means that which is to be propagated. Originally this word derived from a new administrative body of the Catholic Church (congregation) created in 1622, called the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (Congregation for Propagating the Faith), or informally simply Propaganda Its activity was aimed at "propagating" the Catholic faith in non-Catholic countries. . . . Propaganda was often used to influence opinions and beliefs on religious issues, particularly during the split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches. Propaganda has become more common in political contexts, in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments, political groups, but also often covert interests. . . VIII. QUEEN OF ALL CREATION 241. Mary, the Mother who cared for Jesus, now cares with maternal affection and pain for this wounded world. Just as her pierced heart mourned the death of Jesus, so now she grieves for the sufferings of the crucified poor and for the creatures of this world laid waste by human power. Completely transfigured, she now lives with Jesus, and all creatures sing of her fairness. She is the Woman, “clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1). Carried up into heaven, she is the Mother and Queen of all creation. In her glorified body, together with the Risen Christ, part of creation has reached the fullness of its beauty. She treasures the entire life of Jesus in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19,51), and now understands the meaning of all things. Hence, we can ask her to enable us to look at this world with eyes of wisdom. 242. At her side in the Holy Family of Nazareth, stands the figure of Saint Joseph. Through his work and generous presence, he cared for and defended Mary and Jesus, delivering them from the violence of the unjust by bringing them to Egypt. The Gospel presents Joseph as a just man, hard-working and strong. But he also shows great tenderness, which is not a mark of the weak but of those who are genuinely strong, fully aware of reality and ready to love and serve in humility. That is why he was proclaimed custodian of the universal Church. He too can teach us how to show care; he can inspire us to work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us. IX. BEYOND THE SUN 243. At the end, we will find ourselves face to face with the infinite beauty of God (cf. 1 Cor 13:12), and be able to read with admiration and happiness the mystery of the universe, which with us will share in unending plenitude. Even now we are journeying towards the sabbath of eternity, the new Jerusalem, towards our common home in heaven. Jesus says: “I make all things new” (Rev 21:5). Eternal life will be a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place and have something to give those poor men and women who will have been liberated once and for all. 244. In the meantime, we come together to take charge of this home which has been entrusted to us, knowing that all the good which exists here will be taken up into the heavenly feast. In union with all creatures, we journey through this land seeking God, for “if the world has a beginning and if it has been created, we must enquire who gave it this beginning, and who was its Creator”.[172] Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope. 245. God, who calls us to generous commitment and to give him our all, offers us the light and the strength needed to continue on our way. In the heart of this world, the Lord of life, who loves us so much, is always present. He does not abandon us, he does not leave us alone, for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward. Praise be to him! VII. THE TRINITY AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CREATURES:- 238. The Father is the ultimate source of everything, the loving and self-communicating foundation of all that exists. The Son, his reflection, through whom all things were created, united himself to this earth when he was formed in the womb of Mary. The Spirit, infinite bond of love, is intimately present at the very heart of the universe, inspiring and bringing new pathways. The world was created by the three Persons acting as a single divine principle, but each one of them performed this common work in accordance with his own personal property. Consequently, “when we contemplate with wonder the universe in all its grandeur and beauty, we must praise the whole Trinity”.[169] 239. For Christians, believing in one God who is trinitarian communion suggests that the Trinity has left its mark on all creation. . The reflection of the Trinity was there to be recognized in nature “when that book was open to man and our eyes had not yet become darkened”Saint Bonaventure went so far as to say that human beings, before sin, were able to see how each creature “testifies that God is three”.[170] The Franciscan saint teaches us that each creature bears in itself a specifically Trinitarian structure, so real that it could be readily contemplated if only the human gaze were not so partial, dark and fragile. In this way, he points out to us the challenge of trying to read reality in a Trinitarian key. 240. The divine Persons are subsistent relations, and the world, created according to the divine model, is a web of relationships. Creatures tend towards God, and in turn it is proper to every living being to tend towards other things, so that throughout the universe we can find any number of constant and secretly interwoven relationships.[171] This leads us not only to marvel at the manifold connections existing among creatures, but also to discover a key to our own fulfilment. The human person grows more, matures more and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures. In this way, they make their own that trinitarian dynamism which God imprinted in them when they were created. Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity. 87. When we can see God reflected in all that exists, our hearts are moved to praise the Lord for all his creatures and to worship him in union with them. This sentiment finds magnificent expression in the hymn of Saint Francis of Assisi: Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom you give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour; and bears a likeness of you, Most High. Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful. Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through whom you give sustenance to your creatures. Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste. Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong”.[64] Four mighty angels are still holding the four winds of the earth. Terrible destruction is forbidden to come in full. The accidents by land and by sea; the loss of life, steadily increasing, by storm, by tempest, by railroad disaster, by conflagration; the terrible floods, the earthquakes, and the winds will be the stirring up of the nations to one deadly combat, while the angels hold the four winds, forbidding the terrible power of Satan to be exercised in its fury until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. Get ready, get ready, I beseech you, get ready before it shall be forever too late! The ministers of vengeance will pour all the terrible judgments upon a God-forsaken people. The way of obedience is the only path of life. May the Lord help you to see it in time to open your ears, that you may hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (R&H, June 7, 1887 [A time when the Second Coming was at hand; but this was later rescinded because the Church had flouted God's authority.])
In 1967 a man had a religious experience which had an effect on the course of history in 1979. Jeffrey Hart in a syndicated column dated May 7, 1976 (Oroville, California, Mercury Register), writing on "Carter and Religion" stated: "'In 1967,' says Carter, 'I had a profound religious experience that changed my life.'" This obscure, mediocre Governor of Georgia had by 1979 been catapulted into the White House. There on October 6, 1979, President Jimmy Carter welcomed Pope John Paul II with these words: I welcome you to the White House the symbolic home of all our people. On behalf of every American of every faith I also welcome you into our nation's heart.God bless you for coming to ourcountry. We are proud to have you here." (RNS, Oct. 8, 1979, p. 1) Here was a man, a Southern Baptist by confession, whose religious devotion was such that he taught Sunday school while serving as President of the United States, who in 1967 had such a "profound religious experience" that his life was "changed," who now twelve years later as head of the American government reaches across the gulf and clasps hands with the reigning head of the Papacy. (See Exhibit #6) This was done on behalf of "every American of every faith." Religious News Service (RNS) observes that the reception for the Pope was possibly the largest ever held in the White House. Over 10,000 invitations were issued. At this reception were gathered representatives of all three branches of the American government - executive, legislative, and judicial. "At the conclusion of the reception the pope surprised the audience by saying, 'the pope wants to bless you -- with the permission of the president of the United States." (Ibid., p.2) Carter made no objections, neither did any other officially appointed or elected leader of government. Ellen White had declared in 1891: It is at the time of national apostasy, when, acting on the policy of Satan, the rulers of the land will rank themselves on the side of the man of sin - it is then the measure of guilt is full; the national apostasy is the signal for national ruin. (GC Bulletin, Vol. 4, 119, p. 259) You will observe that when "the rulers of the land" - not just the president - rank themselves on "the side of the man of sin," in accordance with "the policy of Satan," that God marks it as "national apostasy." Within weeks, American prestige suffered the most humiliating defeat of its 200 year history - the insult at Teheran - and - 20 - Carter could do nothing to alter the situation; he was completely ineffective. The blessing of the pope had turned into a curse. (Excerpt from The Hour and the End.) A Message for Frequent Appearance.--In the twenty-first chapter of Luke Christ foretold what was to come upon Jerusalem, and with it He connected the scenes which were to take place in the history of this world just prior to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (CW 23-24) Luke 21: 24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken 27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. . . . 32Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. (See Biblical Research Institute Report on the Eleventh Chapter of Daniel) O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain. Isaiah 14 12How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 2 1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. 6Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. . . 10Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. 11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 12For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: . . 17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 18And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 20In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? Rev. 13 11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Rev. 16: 13And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. . . 16And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Rev. 17 1And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 4These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. |
