‍ SERIES ON THE CHURCH OF ROME ‍

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Spirit of Antichrist Used to Stealthily Hide and Move in the Shadows in American Cultural, However, it No Longer Sees the Need to Hide, When it Can Move Openly!

INTRODUCTION In this series, my prayer is that exposing the spiritual danger, hidden in Roman Catholicism, will be received in the spirit of humility that it is written. Using only Holy Scripture alongside the doctrines promoted and pushed by Catholicism. It is important to understand this is not just an argument about which religion is correct, but a much more dangerous situation involving the soul and eternity.

The series was prompted by an article that appeared in national news this week concerning the resurgence and resurrection in the Roman Catholic Church. It began with Catholic leaders across the U.S. reporting a sharp increase in the number of adult converts, a trend that they say is driven primarily by young adults. Notre Dame saw its largest group of new Catholics in at least 25 years, with a 125 receiving sacraments last Easter. They also noted that this year, they expect there to be 163 candidates and catechumens, which are unbaptized individuals undergoing conversion. Bishop Robert Barron said that when speaking to new adult converts about their decision, many describe themselves as “hungry for truth.” This is likened to this metaphor Jesus spoke: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asked for a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?” Luke 11.11 If a person is sincerely seeking truth, the Catholic Church with its open idolatry and glorification of paganism and deification of Mary, just based on the surface, that would be the least depository for Biblical truth vs. the Church doctrines instituted by men. The Bishop Barron went on to say, “that many young adults are looking for something steady with strong roots (while contemporary Christianity and the mega-church-model of evangelicalism is losing its attraction for the young adults) Catholicism has been attracting new converts because of its 2,000-year-old traditions.” What a tragic unfolding testimony for 21st century evangelicalism. Barron, intimated “our culture today is very ephemeral (or changes lasting a very short time) right? It’s evanescent (or soon passing when the novelty wears off) while Catholicism speaks to something much deeper and older and more permanent,” he said. “I also think that people are attracted to the ritual expression of Catholicism. It’s the beauty of our liturgy, we’re not just gathering in a bland room (most certainly a dig at mega-churches modeling themselves after country clubs, replete with coffee shops) and singing pop songs (that are designed for entertainment rather than worship) we enter into the ancient, beautiful ritual involving vestments (worn by priest, cardinals and the pope)the incense and candles ancient prayers to saints and ancient chants. And I do think that appeals to people’s souls, especially, young people.” I would have to agree with Barron’s assessment given the wide-spread biblical illiteracy in America. The saddest element in this whole move is the unawareness of the danger they are stepping into spiritually. Let us begin the series which will produce the indisputable spiritual danger tied to the Catholic faith, with humble hearts and spirit of Christ love.

Have you ever wondered why following a religious tradition for centuries or much of one’s life is not a guarantee that it aligns with the Word of God? The Scriptures warn us that the popular path is not usually the true one, and this can become unsettling, because it requires the courage to face what true ‘faith’ teaches vs embracing popular traditions. As previously stated, in this series we will examine just three verses, three Biblical principles that rest solely in Jesus Christ that reveal truth indisputable truths that have been written in Holy Scripture for centuries, awaiting the eyes of every true believer in the faith of Christ. There is something few have the spiritual courage to face head-on when it comes to the Christian faith and truth thereof. It is not necessarily a lack of intelligence or even a lack of will to do so, it resides in the unsettledness brought on by too many questions. And the most common human tendency is to simply ignore them, change the subject, and presume doubt doesn’t exist. After all the traditions being followed seem very religious in nature. However, here is something very important to consider: ‘Truth’ (the essence of Christ Jesus, He did say “I AM TRUTH”! Not a source of truth, but truth itself. But “Truth”, that stubborn irritating thorn in the flesh at times, the Bible calls liberating, and it doesn’t disappear, because we simply close our eyes and ears to it.

CONCLUSION: Roman Catholicism is without doubt the largest institutionalized religious structure the world has ever seen. More than 1.4-billion-people in 2,000 years of history. Popes who moved empires, Cardinals who influenced wars, cathedrals that defy gravity with their ornate and structural beauty, sacraments that accompany human beings from birth to death. It is such a colossal religious machine that is so well assembled, so deeply rooted in human culture that many people simply assume that something that has lasted so long and grown so much globally, it must be Biblically legit. It must be in accordance with the Will of God, but here lies the (1st Deception) and it hides in plain sight! In this series we will prove without doubt that the true power behind Roman Catholicism’s longevity and global influence throughout the centuries, can only be based on one true source. The oldest spiritual enemy of God known to man, THE SPIRIT of BABYLON! May the Lord and His Holy Spirit lead us into all “Truth” without doubt or confusion in this series,

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Confusing Longevity With “Truth” (Jesus is the essence of all Truth) While Confusing Size With Divine Approval [PART ONE]

The Holy Scriptures which is the revealed Word of God to humanity, and Jesus who declared “I AM the Truth“ said: “Enter you in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there will be that enter in there. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life eternal, and few will find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 makes it astonishingly clear the “wide path” is the popular path, the easy path that many choose, is not necessarily the correct path. A few, certainly not the majority, not the largest religious institutions on the planet. A few! This is not an attack on those who were born into Catholicism, and had its doctrines imbedded in them from youth by family or societal structure. Those who in their lives have fawn memories of lighting candles with their mother or grandmother, prayed the rosary when facing one of life’s many trials, because there is a strongly rooted connection that runs deeper than mere religious belief, this based on a deep-rooted emotional connection that is as real, as knowing the sun is coming every day without fail and it is most precious to them.

However, there is a huge spiritual difference between sincere devotion of a heart-seeking the Lord in truth, vs. man-made-doctrines put forth as truth and taught through religious icons of a religious institution that over the centuries has created traditions that when examined in the light of Scripture, are immediately exposed as apostate teachings that border on blaspheme, due to their denigration of Christ’ suffering to remove all sin from the world. And this is where it gets interesting. Why? Because the Bible is not a book based on Protestantism or Evangelical interpretation, not some text of dubious (unreliable) origin that will expose this hidden danger that lurks in the Roman Church. Rather, it’s (3) verses, (3) sentences (that require no theological degree to understand) and they are in the Catholic Bible itself. The same Bible that priest us in mass, the same-one Bishops study in seminary, the same-one Cardinals have in Latin on the shelves of their offices in the Vatican. The point I am making, these verses have never been hidden, they have never been removed even by man-made religious institutions. They are available, accessible, and waiting to erase all doubts if read with eyes wide open and a heart willing to follow the truth wherever it may lead. However, this is easier said than done, given the hinderance of human nature, and this impediment has a name, INSTITUTIONAL TRADITION!

When structures or institution becomes powerful enough, they begin to function as a filter between the faithful and the Word of God. The Bible starts to be interpretated not by power of the Holy Spirit, not by meditation, not by prayer for illumination and not by honest study of the word (like the Bereans), but through the lens of what religious institutions needs to be true for protecting their brand. Jesus Christ confronted and exposed the exact thing in the religious leaders of His day: “You make the word of God of ‘NONE EFFECT’ through your traditions (speaking-in-tongues, slaying-in-the-spirit, health-and-prosperity-false gospel, “that makes merchandise of the people”), which you have delivered, and many other things you do (deification of Mary, glorification of pagan celebrations as Christian Holidays, promoting idol worship).” Mark 7:13 Jesus warns that traditions of men NULLIFIES the word of God! NULLIFIES! It didn’t compliment, it didn’t enrich understanding, it simply nullified! The question each believer in the faith of Christ needs to ask ourselves is not, does a denomination have appealing traditions? The necessary question we must ask ourselves is what I believe aligned with what Holy Scripture teaches. God will not ask in eternity what religious institutions or denominations you belonged to. He will ask what did you do with the teachings of My Son, (the “Truth”) and was faith based on His truth, or the man-made-traditions of men? The (3) verses we will use for this series are not just theological curiosities, they are mirrors when compared to the focus of this series, the Roman Church and her glorification of ancient paganistic traditions wrapped in a Christian wrapper, they reveal unquestioned contradictions that no human argument can resolve.

THERE IS ONLY [ONE] MEDIATOR: There is a single verse in all of Scripture that dismantles the need of creating a plethora of others for the task of mediation between the people and God. This, because there are verses in the Bible that require no elaborate exegesis of the passage, or a theological degree to explain to understand. They are simple and elementary enough for one’s differing cognitive abilities to accept. And 1st Timothy 2:5-6 is such a verse: “FOR THERE IS ONE GOD, AND ‘ONE’ MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, WHO GAVE HIMSELF A RANSOM FOR ‘ALL’”! The Apostle Paul wrote with surgical precision, in one sentence a clean cut, with no ambiguity, no room for maneuverability, no room for creative interpretation, simply “ONE MEDIATOR” Jesus Christ! Not Mary, because of her Son’s maternal compassion, not the saints, the priest secreted in a wooden box hidden from the one confessing sin, not the Cardinals or Bishops and most certainly and unequivocally, the Pope, who is believed by Catholics to speak as Christ on earth! Anyone who studies this verse with an earnest and honestly seeking heart, soon realizes that it is not talking about something peripheral (or the necessity for additional aid for intercession). This verse clearly states the very foundational stone for how human beings can enter the very throne-room of God with their petitions. Meditation is the very heart of faith; it is the path by which the sinner can have access that reaches the Creator. Holy Scripture unequivocally affirms that this path has one name and one name only, and that name is “JESUS the CHRIST” which makes it possible for sinners and believers alike to have open intercession before God. It’s not a preference; it is a declaration of absolute exclusivity. In summation of [PART ONE] I leave you with the Greek word Paul used that resounds with finality “EV” meaning one, singularly and exclusive! “One”, not the first on a list among other idols created for mediation, “One” and only one!

CONCLUSION: My only purpose in exposing the hidden dangers associated with the Roman Church, is that it might help keep a loved one from committing an egregious error based on ascetism, beauty and traditions of men who athirst for power!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The devil is still actively roaming and roaring throughout this earth like a lion. He is powerful and ferocious. And it is crucial not to misjudge Satan’s power or be ignorant of his schemes. [PART TWO]

INGNORANCE IS NOT EXECUSABLE! When we look at certain religious traditions, especially the Church of Rome and we find a structure built entirely on human mediation. And it is not a matter of forced interpretation; it is the official and self-binding doctrine itself. The priest acts as a mediator in the confessional. The believer never goes directly to God and confesses their sins and without sounding crass, (it is truly one of the biggest wastes of time in Christendom) as well as a most dangerous practice going back to antiquity. Why? You reveal your darkest and many times your must humiliating secrets and sins, all to another sinner just like yourself. Then to add insult to injury, the sinner priest forgives the sin and can grant absolution. You see Scriptural illiteracy causes one to believe there is forgiveness in someone other than Christ, who alone “TOOK AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD”! The tradition of mediation outside of Christ, a foundational tenant of the Church of Rome, has inherited her paganist spirit from her mother’s ancient rebellion against God, in the form of “MYSTERY BABYLON RELIGION”, established during the global rebellion against God led by Nimrod, and his wife Semiramis, the Queen or head of Mystery Babylon Religious heresy! At the center of this abominable and spiritual fornication against God, was the confessing of one’s misdeeds, sins, and a whole host human atrocity, to a pagan priest. And after God scattered the builders of the Tower of Babel, the body of Nimrod, head of the civil rebellion was cut into pieces and sent throughout regions of the earth as the reminder not to rebel against God. But the Queen of Heaven, Semiramis and her Babylonian religion survived in the same form today in the Church of Rome. And the center of Mystery Babylon religious structure was “THE MOTHER SON WORSHIP”! And just how dangerous is this form of worship in the name of Christendom? Let us hear the warning out the so-called first pope’s mouth, the Apostle Peter: “BE SOBER (not incapacitated), BE VIGILANT; BECAUSE YOUR ADVERSARY (sworn enemy) THE DEVIL, AS A ROARING LION, WALKS ABOUT, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR (eternally destroy): WHO RESIST STEADFAST (unwaveringly, without doubt) IN THE FAITH.” 1ST Peter 5.8 One of the saddest traditions in all of Christendom is the deification of Mary, who no doubt is grieved by such actions. In Catholicism, Mary is called the Mediatrix of all grace and even co-redemptrix’s, titles that place her in a position of active participation in the work of redemption. This subject demands further examination due to its origin and spiritual suicide!

Let me first say, Mary, the Bible clearly declares, “WAS BLESSED (that is to say, envied) AMONG WOMEN”. Why would she be envied? All Jewish women were raised with the hope of being the one chosen to bring the Jewish Messiah into the world. I want to pause here, to give the devil his due, in that he took what God meant as a blessing for a woman and turned it into a curse. Mary and Jesus were not the creation of “mother-son worship’. The Bible declares its practice in the O.T.: “He said to me, turn you, and you shall witness greater abominations that they (religious leaders and women) do. Then He brought me to the door of the gate to the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.” Ezekiel 8:14 Note this whole practice is called by God an abomination (is anyone paying attention)? “See what they do…the children gather wood, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven (Semiramis), and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.” Does this not cause every slave to Catholicism to pause and fear the Lord? However, in all honesty, I would be remiss in holding the office of one of Christ’ ministers of the Gospel, if I only exposed the inherent spiritual danger that resides in Catholicism, while ignoring the dangers openly celebrated in evangelicalism. The flagrant flouting of the 2nd Commandment in both religious structures is an awful and cavalier blasphemous act for representing the eternal God in our human nature as a doll in a manager. Christmas was in paganistic Mystery Babylon Religion a heathen festival celebrated on the 25th of December in honor of the birth of the abominable Tammuz, also called Baal the Sun-god, the son of Semiramis, the Babylonian queen of heaven. The Church of Rome in order to attract pagans, Christianized Tammuz’s birth and called it Christmas causing the eternal God to share a birthday with a heathen, and most assuredly invoking His anger. And evangelicalism was all too happy to endorse it as the birth of Christ their Savior. Ironically, birthdays in Holy Scripture were reserved for the rich and affluent and for carrying out death. We are never told to celebrate the birth of Christ, but only His resurrection! However, evangelicalism finds that it fits very nicely with it worship of filthy lucre. Every true believer in Christ, must ask ourselves as bond-slaves to our Mater, how can anything that connects with worship of Baal be pleasing to the Lord? And we still have a long way to go in this series.

CONCLUSION: Have you ever really considered the spiritual danger associated with the fictious character of Santa, that we teach our children? 1st the name: put the “n” at the end and you have Satan! 2nd We tell our children if they don’t go to sleep, Santa won’t come. Where Scripture exhorts: ”To watch, for you know not the hour your Lord does come.” And finally, and most dangerous of all is assigning omniscience to a fictional character, attributes possessed only by the Creator, when we tell our children “he knows when you’ve been bad or good.” And I leave us with one verse to meditate upon: “This says the LORD, learn not the way of the heathen…for the customs of the people are vain…therefore pray not for this people, neither lift up a cry or pray for them: for I will not hear them” I know I am not very popular with my take on Biblical truth, and if I am wrong on my understanding, the Lord will chastise me. It doesn’t in any way minimize the extreme spiritual danger that now resides in modern Christianity. In all humility

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Spiritual Suicide Being Committed by Unsuspecting, Well-meaning Believers in the

Faith, By Their Refusal to Examine Man-made-Religious-Traditions in the Light of Holy Scripture to See It Is really Nothing More Than Ancient Baal Worship Wrapped in Christian Packaging! [PART THREE]

As we continue to examine the great hidden dangers of immersing oneself into Christian-pagan religious institutions. My fervent prayer for you, is Holy Spirit Conviction will lead any who are committing knowingly or unknowingly out of the spiritual fornication

involved in worship of Baal the ancient sun-god! Many may be thinking, by what authority do you judge another’s commitment to their religious institutional preference? My reply, only one source, Holy Scripture and the essence of all “truth” Jesus the Christ! He did not come to teach us truth, about truth, but to declare He is “TRUTH”! My hearts only attempt is to expose apstate teachings! So, let’s continue to expose hidden Baal worship of the sun-god in the Church of Rome!

In [Part Two] we exposed the real truth behind the pagan celebration in Christianity of December 25th as the real birthday of Tammuz son of Semarimis. In Part [Three] we will examine the pagan celebration called Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Tammuz from the dead. Through the Church of Rome- this actof Baal-worship has been handed down through the centuries. How can anything connected with worship of Baal be pleasing to the Lord? That is the question that must never be ignored by a person of the Christian faith, fore ignorance of the truth is never applicable! Was it not for the willfulness of such worship that the judgments of the Lord repeatedly fell upon the people of Israel in the O.T.? “And when they forgot the LORD their God, He sold them into the hands of their enemies...And they cried unto the Lord, and said, we have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth.” !st Samuel 12:9-10 Semaramis instituted a holy day in her Babylonian religion in honor of the supposed “death/resurrection” of her son Tammuz. Semaramis became known in Babylonian worship as the fertility goddest ‘Istar’. She took on many other names in different cultures: Isis, Diana, Astarte, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus and Easter. She was even identified with Mary in the Church of Rome, and she was deified and took on the titles “MOTHER OF GOD” and “QUEEN OF HEAVEN”. Her son Tammuz took on many names as well such as Horus, Apollo, Sol, Krishna, Hercules, Mithhra, Cupid and finally Jesus. In Catholicism the worship of the mother/son is known as “Madonna/Child” and “Mary/Jesus”. There are idolsin the Vatacan itself of “Tammuz the Great Hunter” Jesus or Hesus or lesous or “I.H.S.” as seen on the Catholic cross which means Hail Zues or Son of Zues. Sun-bursts (icons of the sungod Baal) are displayed all throughout great cathedrals, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilical in Rome as tributes to Baal!

When Tammuz was 40 years of age he was killed by a wild boar while hunting. After Tammuz died, his mother Semaramis began a custom in Babylon called “FORTY DAYS OF WEEPING FOR TAMMUZ” that required the people to fast and pray for Tammuz in the underworld. They exchanged one day of pleasure in this life for each year of Tammuz’s life. The Church of Rome Christianized this pagan Babylonian practice called “LENT.” In the Catholic paganistic system, 40 Days of Lent involves fasting from something you enjoy, begins on what is called “ASH WEDNESDAY where a cross of Tammuz is drawn in ash on the forehead of the faithful.” The Romans called Semaramis, Astarte, but later called her Venus. The Hebrews called her Ashtoroth, her emblem is the lily. She is the goddess of France. The French made a colossus of the image, and it now stands in New York Harbor, facing the “East,”. Here is an interesting note, when the Pilgrims arrived in America and following Catholicism was not allowed in most colonies. This is a lot to wrap your mind around, I know.

This revelation is not to disrespect Mary or other saints, it rests solely on what the Word of God says about the structure of mediation put forth by the religious falsehoods of Catholicism. Hebrews 4.16 is the final word that any true believer needs: “LET US THEREFORE , COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN MERCY, AND FIND GRACE TO HELP IN A TIME OF NEED.” Important to understand, the Scripture does not say, “Let us seek an intermediary to allow us access to the throne.” It says, “Let us approach ourselves with full with full confidence..” This confidence is not born out of arrogance, but based solely on what Christ obtained for us on the cross. It is with full assurance that the pathway is open and does not need the assisst mediation by the priests, saint, or Mary. The first elenentary warning for anyone looking or having an interest in Catholicism, is the reality evident in the religious heiarchy, the Cardinals, are called “Princes of the Church” and your Eminence! What arrogance! Certainly as arrogant as a man calling himself Holy Father, this without a sliver of doubt, is open adulterated blaspheme. And it has now become an attraction for many bored and uneducated young-adults. Who are looking for hope in a man-made damnable heresy.

CONCLUSION: The Bible describes Satan as the Father of all lies, and the master of deception. Here is a simple bu true way to end Part Three: Satan is not afraid of your wisdom, your witicism or your threats, but he is absolutely and unequivicably mastered by the Word of God, “THE TRUTH” Jesus Christ! With all humility!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Is It at All Possible to Reduce the Creator of the Entire Universe to A Cracker, With the Image of the Sun-god, Represented by a Sun-burst On It? [PART FOUR]

(Part Three) was what is called parenthetical or to (explain in greater detail) the Post. Introducing the Church of Rome’s deification of Mary, required more depth in exposing the hidden dangers committed openly and unashamedly, some because ignorance of Biblical truths, others by having such practice ingrained in them from youth by birth into Catholicism. There is no shortage of eccentric foolish traditions practiced within institutional religious structures of Christianity. This no doubt angers the Lord when men turn something so precious and simple into bondage to enslave his fellow man. There is perhaps nothing that degrades Christ in such a humiliating manner than the Church of Rome’s practice of the church’s sacraments! But, before we move on to compare the Roman Church’s sacrament rituals to the light of scripture, there is a vs. that removes all need for a priestly intercessor for the believers in the faith of Christ; “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” I Peter 2.9

BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH, the VERSE THAT DESTROYS SACRMENTAL RITUALS of the CHURCH OF ROME! When God placed these words in the Bible, it left no room for negotiations! “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of ‘yourselves’: it is the ‘gift’ of God: not of works (or jumping through spiritual hoops force upon believers by man) lest any man (princes of the church, the papacy etc.) should boast.” Ephesians 2.8-9 The first thing noted the verses invite no room for debate, but just the opposite, the verses end all debate, should any arise. Every word there is chosen, every word carries an exclusion! And when all the exclusions (man-made rituals, institutional dictates within religious structures) are placed side-by-side, what remains is a structure of salvation radically different from what many religious systems teach.

The 1st thing that stands out is the source of salvation, is ‘grace’. Not merit, not ritual, not accumulated effort, but ‘grace’. Grace, being something that cannot be earned. Whoever earns something, earns a credit to be redeemed later, but God’s grace does not operate on a credit system, it operates wholly on the bases of a gift, and Paul reinforces just that. A gift is not earned, it is given, an act of unmerited favor. A gift is not negotiated (so when someone asked if the deceased made their peace with God before they died, it is an unanswerable question! Why? Peace involves the negotiations of two parties, each having something to offer, so that makes it impossible for someone to make peace with God, because they have nothing of value to offer for the peace they are seeking. On the other hand, “a peace-agreement has been achieved, between God the Father and Jesus his Son”. A gift is not negotiated, it is received, and the way to receive it is ‘faith’ (that is to accept something, without having seen it), not by sacramental rituals, or repeated rote behavior, not by demand presence in a religious institutional structure created by men called a confessional box.

Understanding declaration by THE COUNCIL of TRENT between 1545 and 1563, makes it impossible not to see the blatant heresy. The Roman Catholic Church leaders in that historical council established that [7] sacraments, BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, EUCHARIST, PENANCE, ANOINTING OF THE SICK, HOLY ORDERS, and MATRIMONY are necessary for salvation. And extremism goes even further in its apostasy; it declares that anyone who suggests the sacraments are not necessary (for salvation) would be under anathema or is cursed. It is a fixed position that is still a major tenant and underpinning of Catholic theological dogma to this very day. But Paul leaves no room to entertain such blasphemous sophistry (or the use of fallacious arguments). “And if by grace, then there is no more works: otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be works, then it is no more grace: otherwise, it is no more work. Romans 11.6 G Grace and works do not mix, and this is not a matter of theological opinion, it’s a matter of internal logic of the inspired text. If salvation had any component of human work, grace would cease to be grace and would become a wage earned. And wages are earned and gifts are received. So, what exactly is a sacrament in terms? It is an action! It is something one does or receives from another human being through a right. Going to the confessional is an action. Receiving the Eucharist (the body of Christ literally) is an action. Being baptized in a ceremony action. If salvation doesn’t come from work, and the bible is explicit about this, then none of these actions can be a required condition for salvation. They can be expressions of devotion. They can be Christian practices with spiritual value, but they cannot be a prerequisite for God to save a soul. Because if they are a Christian mandate, salvation ceases to be a gift and becomes the result of an institutional religious performance. And something that needs to be stated clearly, carefully, but without hesitation. Ephesians 2:8-9 is in the Catholic Bible! It is not a Protestant verse, it is not a verse later inserted by the fundamentalist and conservatives, nor is it a creative interpretation, the very vs. are in the same canon that the Catholic Church itself recognizes them as sacred text. More to come in [PART FIVE].

CONCLUSION: This series becomes all the more needful given the recent religious war that has broken out between two loud egotistical leaders; President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, couple that with the sudden surge by young adults embracing Catholicism and you have a growing spirit of antichrist at an unprecedented rate. What ignited this war of words between the two? It was the words of Leo XIV. "Blessed are the peacemakers. But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” Leo was referring to Trump’s war with Iran. This is the typical “pot calling the kettle black.” Here you have the leader of the Catholic Church, whose history is brimming with shedding the blood of the saints of Jesus, also was complicit along with Hitler in the extermination of 6,000,000 the Jews. In all humility of sharing all truth.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

History Ignored Is History Oft Repeated! Indicated In the Unfolding War of Words Between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. [POST FIVE]

From its earliest centuries, Christianity was bound up with politics. Roman Emperor Constantine legalized the religion in 313. He later presided over the Council of Nicaea, an important theological assembly, blurring the line between political rule and spiritual authority. In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius I articulated a rival vision: that the world was governed by two powers, priestly and royal. Ultimately, he argued that spiritual authority outweighed political power, because it promised eternal salvation. Gelasius’ theory did not resolve the tension between the two, but it established a lasting framework for Christian political thought. The relationship between these two powers shifted decisively in the year 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, a Frankish king, emperor on Christmas Day. This act was not merely ceremonial. It implied that imperial authority in the West came from the church and that political legitimacy required papal sanction. Most Americans have no idea that former President Clinton was awarded the Catholic Charlemagne Award (is a prize awarded for work done in the service of European unification. With the recent resurrection of interest by young adults in Roman Catholicism, the unfolding war of words between the most powerful secular leader and the most powerful religious leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, the stage is being set for the unveiling of “the great whore that sits upon many waters (people nations, tongues and multitudes) with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication…and she was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup (the golden cup with a sun burst the priest holds up in officiating the eucharist) in her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of her (spiritual) fornication.” Are you awake yet?

In [Part Four] we were examining the (7) sacraments that Catholic dogma declares are necessary for a person to receive salvation, surely a element of her spiritual fornication. We left off stating Ephesians 2:8-9 it is in the same canon the Church of Rome declares as sacred. It is read in Catholic Mass. It appears in patristic commentaries, in the ‘breviaries’ (a book containing the service for each day, to be recited by those in orders in the Roman Church). And yet, when one observes the entire sacramental structure, it’s as if this verse is treated with cavalier deafness. The faith that saves according to Jesus Christ, Paul, is not faith that the sacraments produce. It is faith in God, in the Gospel of His Son, Jesus the Christ, and the finished work on Calvary. In John 6:4 Jesus says in terms that cannot be misconstrued; “Truly, Truly, I say unto you, he that believes in Me, has everlasting life.” Not the one who participates in the sacraments, not one who confesses regularly to another sinner hidden from view, but they who simply by faith believe in the finished work of Calvary. Faith is the channel, grace is the content, and God is the sole giver! In a institutional religion performance is the major practice, because the person must do enough to deserve access to God. In a ‘faith’ that calls for surrender, one comes without any reservation they cannot do enough to receive from God what they could never achieve by their own efforts. In other words, we come with empty hands with nothing to offer, it is then that God acts with more freedom and more power than any religious system has ever managed to promise.

There are other passages that take this series even deeper. Touching not only on the nature of salvation, but on the very heart of what separates a living faith from a religion structured on obligations. And this territory when explored with honesty, reveals something that completely changes the way one reads everything the Bible teaches. “CALL NO ONE FATHER.” This single verse destroys the Catholic Priesthood, Cardinals (i.e. princes of the Roman church) and the Papacy. Of all prohibitions Jesus pronounced during His ministry, few carry such surgical precision as the words recorded in Matthew 23:9: “AND CALL NO MAN FATHER UPON THE EARTH (kind of destroys the Vatican’s exalted title for a man, Holy Father doesn’t it): FOR ONE IS YOUR FATHER, WHICH IS IN HEAVEN .” It’s not a suggestion, it’s not a poetic metaphor, it is a direct instruction embedded in a entire chapter that deals with religious leaders who use titles to elevate themselves above others. And anyone who takes the Bible seriously cannot read the verse without feeling the weight of what it means for a religious institutional structure built on exactly what was strictly forbidden. Roman Catholicism calls every priest “father,” and in English, this needs no translation. Their Supreme leader receives the title “POPE” derived from the Grk. ‘pappas’, which means daddy. The most intimate, most affectionate and the closest word a child uses to call their parent has become the greatest ecclesiastical title in Christendom. And it was precisely this title, this religious institutional spiritual fatherhood that Jesus strictly forbade. This is not a difficult interpretation or one that necessitates theological scholarly. The most common defense one hears is that Jesus was speaking figuratively (departing from the original use of the word), and that if it were literal, it would be impossible to call one’s father, father. But this defense crumbles when one reads the entire chapter without cherry-picking. More on this blaspheme in PART SIX.

CONCLUSION: The Church of Rome’s Dogma is filled with such sophistry and scriptural contradictions that on the surface alone, it becomes laughable! Examples: the literal ascension and virgin birth of Mary…the leather scapula one wears around their neck as a sign Mary has assured, they will not go to hell, the priests ability to absolve and forgive sin, and the celibacy of all leaders of the church how absurd is this practice? The Gospels are clear that Peter had a wife, as seen in the accounts of Christ healing his mother-in-law: “And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying, and sick of a fever” (Matthew 8:14). This same event is recorded in Mark 1:30 and Luke 4:38, making it an undisputed fact that Peter had been married.[1] However, it is quite possible that his wife had died by the time Jesus called the Twelve. Note, as soon as Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, she arose and began ministering to Jesus and the Apostles. In His humble service.

Leon Johnson

ndrtSoopest 5a1ihAh ctlm4:l20 hm28r663M3m300ll19g h1tu0052pA ·

Shared with Public