The Gospel Light And Truth Crusade – Page 3 – Holding fast the faithful Word (Titus 1:9)

That the Wind Should Not Blow

Grace unto you, and peace.

For the past few days, the mornings had been pleasantly cool, and there was always a gentle breeze moving through the trees. But this morning when I stepped out onto the porch, I immediately noticed that though the sky was overcast and there was no glaring sun, the air was still, heavy, and humid. But what really got my attention was the fact that there was absolutely no breeze.

I instantly recalled Revelation 7:1, which recounts what will happen on the earth at the opening of the sixth seal:

“After these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”
Revelation 7:1

Do you have any idea how miserable the earth would be if there were not even the slightest breeze to offer relief from the heat (and the humidity)? Even after I remarked to my son the fact that there was no breeze, a slight breeze blew, and there was an immediate and noticeable difference. Imagine if there were not even that?

Well, my Bible tells me that this very thing is coming to a neighborhood near you. We usually only give God credit for the major things that He gives us (i.e. life, food, a job, a place to live, clothes, etc.), but we often fail to recognize the importance of a simple breeze and to glorify God for providing that for us.

Those of us who claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ ought to think about this, because we are supposed to know Him better than the average person. If we are not thanking Him for the simple things like a cool breeze, how well do we really know Him? And if we don’t really know Him, how grateful can we be?

So, the next time you feel a breeze, no matter how slight, think on the Lord Jesus, because He did that for you.

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

Is the President of the United States the Holy Roman Emperor?

Grace and peace, Saints.

I’ve made some interesting discoveries in the past week.

The first discovery happened last weekend, while watching the disaster movie 2012 for the second time. When I first watched the movie some years ago, I had only been saved about five years; so the only thing I noticed that was of any spiritual importance was that a global inundation of such apocalyptic proportions is pure fantasy from a biblical perspective, as God promised that He would never again destroy the world with a flood. Watching it the second time, however, after being saved for fourteen years, I noticed quite a bit more. One of those things occurred in the scene where President Wilson, (Danny Glover), is in the chapel of the White House praying, when the Chief Science advisor comes to the White House to tell the President that he needs to board Air Force One immediately, as a huge tsunami is en route.

You may have noticed that in the corner of this chapel was an image of the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary. I was not aware that the White House even had a chapel; but, if it does, then this is yet another proof that the formerly great republic called the United States of America is in its death throes.

You must understand that the separation of church and state is vital to the freedoms we enjoy; and, therefore, cannot and must not be destroyed, if we are to remain a free nation. Most of us did not learn in school that when the founding fathers declared independence from England, they were primarily declaring independence from the British monarchy, which, along with other monarchies and the Roman Catholic Church, hated (and still hate) the idea that people can rule themselves. Their hatred of popular government was in fact the basis for the Secret Treaty of Verona.

The Treaty of Verona, for those of you who do not know, was a secret treaty wherein the “high contracting parties,” Russia, Prussia, Austria, and the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Pius VII, entered into an agreement to prevent popular government from taking root anywhere in the world and to destroy it wherever it had already been established. It should come to no surprise to you that since its inception, their principle object of hatred was the United States of America.

NOTE: Read more about the Secret Treaty of Vienna in the book, The Suppressed Truth About the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, available here.

The American system of government is based on the principle that “all men are created equal.” Popular government is the hallmark of this principle. In his famous Gettysburg address, President Abraham Lincoln said, “government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” The idea of popular government, however, is in direct contrast to the beliefs of the high contracting parties, who believe that the common man does not possess sufficient wisdom, intelligence and illumination to govern himself, and should therefore be governed by those who have the “divine right” to rule, by virtue of royal blood and because they were ordained by the Pope, who they believed to be the Vicar of Christ.

The Roman Catholic Church is violently opposed to both popular government and the separation of church and state, because the Pope believes himself to be sovereign over both. The marriage of church and state is embodied in the most visible symbol of the Papacy, the so-called keys of Simon Peter. Here’s what the Vatican has to say about this emblem:

“Since the XIV Century the two crossed keys have been the official insignia of the Holy See. The gold one, on the right, alludes to the power in the heavens, the silver one, on the left, indicates the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth. The mechanisms are turned up towards the heaven and the grips turned down, in other words into the hands of the Vicar of Christ. The cord with the bows that unite the grips alludes to the bond between the two powers.”

Note that the keys represent spiritual and temporal authority; that is, the Church and the State, and are symbolically united by the red cord. By this, the Roman Catholic Church signifies that it does not believe in a separation of church and state. To them, the Church is the State.

I searched the internet for any reference to a chapel in the White House, and I could only find one, from a Google newsgroup. The individual said that he had also heard that there was indeed a chapel in the White House.

As the workplace of the President of the United States, and the symbol for our democracy, the White House should be kept devoid of any religious association, as this would show religious bias. A chapel in the White House would be bad, but a statue of the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary would be even worse: not just because it shows bias towards Roman Catholicism, but because the Virgin Mary is an idol. Our Lady of America is supposedly a movement to place that apparition of the Virgin Mary in the National Cathedral. I have always suspected that its real purpose was to place the Virgin Mary in the White House, and this revelation confirms my fears. Could this have been the true significance of the movie 2012? Did anyone even notice?

The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. is called the National Cathedral, already making Roman Catholicism the de facto religion of the United States; but a statue of the Virgin Mary in the White House would make it official.

While searching for information about the chapel in the White House, I made the second discovery, when I came upon an article that discussed the fact that prior to taking office, President Trump, at the insistence of his wife Melania, a Roman Catholic, had the White House exorcised by a Roman Catholic priest. I was not aware of this.

The article, taken from the Catholic online newspaper, The Remnant, featured a photo of President Trump holding an image of “Our Lady of Fatima.” The article stated that after the exorcism, President Trump asked the Catholic priest who performed the ritual if he could keep the statue of Fatima, which just happens to be desk-sized. Where do you think he keeps it?

You may read the original article here:

When the author can go so far as to say that President Trump acts more Catholic than most Catholic leaders, you know we are in trouble. Many so-called Protestants believe President Trump is a Christian, but not one of them, to my knowledge, has publicly asked him what kind of a Christian. Then again, it wouldn’t matter, as many baptized Catholics change their official religion.

Now consider this: if the United States is the most powerful nation on earth, and if the United States is also a Catholic country, then that would make the President of the United States the Holy Roman Emperor. Officially, the Holy Roman Empire is dead, but the Bible is clear that like The Terminator, it would be back. If the Holy Roman Empire will be back, then the Holy Roman Emperor will be back. And that would be the President of the United States.

If President Trump is not a baptized and confirmed Catholic, then I don’t believe he could ever be the Holy Roman Emperor. But if his successor is Catholic, he could be.

Years ago I downloaded a snippet from an article from the Catholic online magazine, Commonweal (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org) entitled, “The Roman Catholic Takeover of America is Almost Complete.” Here is part of it:

“Upon the passing of Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii (a war hero from WWII, leaving Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey the sole remaining WWII veteran in Congress), Senator Pat Leahy of Vermont becomes the President pro tempore of the Senate and, I believe, the first Catholic to hold the position. Indeed, if Senator John Kerry is nominated and confirmed to be Secretary of State, the four offices in line of succession to the presidency will all be held by Catholics: Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker John Boehner, Senator Leahy, and Secretary Kerry.” [boldface mine.]

The original article is here.

CORRECTION: What I downloaded from Commonweal was a commentary on the article from Mirror of Justice. It is here .

A faithful Roman Catholic, Joseph Biden had a priest bless his private swearing in in 2013.

In the article, The Roman Catholic Takeover of America, I explain that Roman Catholic Takeover of a nation happens in three phases:

Phase I – A crusade of prayer, claiming a country for the Virgin Mary.

Phase II – Dedication of the country to the Virgin Mary.

Phase III – A Holy Warfare to claim that country.

Phase II was accomplished in the United States in 1959, with the reading of a prayer at the dedication of the newly completed Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C. We are now in Phase III, which consists of four steps:

Creation of a Roman Catholic independent state, where all religions will be outlawed except Roman Catholicism and Islam.
Formation of a Roman Catholic army.
Decree that only Roman Catholics may serve in government.
Confiscation of all weapons.

When these steps have been accomplished, the Catholic Church will begin its Great Crusade to “Make America [Completely] Catholic.” In the book, Ravening Wolves, author Monica Farrell writes that in the newly-created Independent State of Croatia, Rome’s plan was to convert one-third of the Serb population, murder one-third (either by execution or a slow death in the concentration camps), and allow one-third to live. I don’t believe this will be true in the U.S.

While not all Roman Catholics may know what is going on, most do; and they are behind it 100%. Those who are not will not say so.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

A Little White Lie?

Last month, my son began what was supposed to be an art apprenticeship with a government-funded summer program for inner-city youth. I learned about the program via a flier I found in my mailbox one day last Spring. I get a lot of bogus things in my mailbox, so, when I saw the flier, I immediately suspected that something was afoot. But, my son and I have been back in St. Louis for two years now; and, as he has yet to make any friends, I thought it would be an opportunity for him to at least be in the company of other kids his age. Of course, being the son of a Protestant preacher in Roman Catholic St. Louis, I know that my son will very likely never make any friends—real or otherwise. But, sometimes it is important to keep a semblance of normalcy; so I went through the motions and let him sign up for the apprenticeship. Two months later, in June, he started.

When he came home after his first day, I asked him how it went, and he said that it went well, but that he wished he had spoken more (he is somewhat shy). It was obvious to me, however, that something had happened that he didn’t want to talk about. It didn’t seem to be serious, so I decided to leave it for tomorrow. When he came home the next day, I again asked my son how it went; and again, he said that it went fine; only this time adding that he had made an effort to speak to the other kids there, rather than waiting to be spoken to, and had even given someone his phone number. Now, this may not be a big deal for most kids; but, for me it was huge. As a six-year old, my son was adventurous and gregarious—a natural leader. But, after living in Munich for almost three years without me and being constantly bullied at school and neglected at home, he had become shy and introverted. So since arriving in St. Louis, I had been encouraging him to take advantage of every social interaction from buying groceries to borrowing a book from the library to practice conversing with people, no matter how briefly. He had been making some progress; but with few opportunities, it was slow and hard to gauge.

When this apprenticeship materialized, therefore, though I had serious misgivings, I saw it as an opportunity for my son to hone his burgeoning social skills. I told him he should not expect much from the program, however, as experience had taught me that there would be little if anything, useful that he would gain there. He should therefore seek to make his time there as personally profitable as possible.

When we talked about what had happened that second day, my son tried to look as optimistic as he could, but found it impossible, as the things they did at that apprenticeship were, in his words, ridiculous. One example of a useless exercise he gave was when the teacher/facilitator passed around a piece of paper upon which, he said, each student drew a body part of a person, beginning with the head, until they had a full man. This sounded odd even to me; but, trying to be fair, I told him that perhaps he was not giving the program a fair chance, that it was possible there was a method to the madness.

It was then that he told me what had been bothering him that first day. On that day, he said, there was a particular exercise where, in order that the students could get better acquainted, each student had to introduce himself to the class and share three personal details about himself. But there was a caveat: one of the things had to be a lie. Now, if I were any other parent, in any other city, and on any other planet, I probably would not have had any problem with this exercise. But, as a Protestant evangelist in Roman Catholic St. Louis, I had a huge problem with this exercise. And I’ll tell you why.

Most of us know something about the Ten Commandments; and though we may not know them all, or even where they can be found in the Holy Bible, we know that the Ten Commandments are ten things God commanded us either to do or not to do. Lying is one of the things God told us not to do.

For the record, the Ten Commandments can be found in Chapter 20 of the Second Book of Moses, called Exodus. They are:

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (statue), or any likeness of any thing (i.e. doll) that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…”

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.”

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

“Honor thy father and thy mother…”

“Thou shalt not kill.”

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

“Thou shalt not steal.”

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

“Thou shalt not covet…”

–Exodus 20:3-17.

In case you did not know, to bear false witness is to lie. Some teach that some lies are not as bad as others (the so-called little white lie), but the Bible says “all disobedience is sin.” There is no such thing as a little white lie. A lie is a lie; so, when this facilitator told the students that they should tell three things about themselves, and that one of those things had to be a lie, she was essentially telling the students to lie. And, because lying is a sin, then she was essentially telling the students that it was okay to sin. Though sinning is a crime against the law of God, and not the law of man, you may have noticed that our laws are largely based on the Ten Commandments. Lying in a court of law, for example, is called perjury, which under federal law, is a felony.

The Lord Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because the Law says that a person should honor his mother and father, yet they taught that if a person should tell his parents to consider themselves lucky if he did anything for them, it was okay. By this tradition, Jesus told them, the Pharisees made the law of God “of none effect” (Mark 7:9-13).

When I broke this down for my son, his mouth formed an “o,” and his eyes widened as the light bulb came on. Then his countenance fell, and he seemed to be thinking, “They played me for a fool,” which they did. To make him feel better, I told him that this was nothing new. Children (especially black children) have been programmed for decades by teachers, clerics, coaches, scout leaders, and even parents to not only be violent, but also to be promiscuous, disrespectful, addicts, agnostic, superstitious, and witchy (what parent over fifty didn’t read Hansel & Gretel in school?). Some very evil people have access to our children, and they all have an agenda: the moral deflowering and paganizing of all children–especially black children.

I was going to take my son out of the apprenticeship, but under the circumstances, I wanted the decision to be his. Happily, he did not want to go back, because, he was “not ready” (his words) for such slickery. He made the right decision.

Now, if you think I’m making a big deal out of nothing, consider that just about everyone in America and a lot of the world knows that St. Louis, Missouri is one of the most crime-infested cities in America. They know about Ferguson, Missouri, a city that is part of Greater St. Louis, and of the riots that rocked that city as a result of the Michael Brown killing. And they know that an awful lot, if not most, of the crime in St. Louis—including the murder of blacks—is committed by blacks. What they don’t know, however, is why. The answer is simple: blacks in St. Louis have been programmed to commit crime. How? They have been taught from very early that it’s okay to sin. And sin is a crime.

“How do they accomplish this?” you may ask.

In much the same way my son was about to be programmed, I would answer.

“Why?” you may ask.

Click here, I answer.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
Hosea 4:6

Wake up, St. Louis!

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

The Liberty Bell

Gravely plain the good pen lined it,
And the Fifty Six all signed it;
Pledged their lives to seal and bind it,
True and well!
Then sudden from the steeple,
Changed the tocsin of the people,
Spoke the sum of history’s pages,
Peaked the thoughts of saints and sages,
Rang the keynote of the ages,—in the Bell.
“The Liberty Bell” by Howard S. Taylor, qtd. in The Suppressed Truth About the Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, p. 27

James Retby

James Retby was a Scottish Protestant who in 1422 was burned at the stake at Glasgow “for denying that the Pope was the Vicar of Christ.”

“And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held” (Revelation 6:9)

James Retby was a Scottish Protestant who in 1422 was burned at the stake at Glasgow “for denying that the Pope was Christ’s Vicar.” A disciple of John Wycliffe, Retby promulgated his master’s opinions in Scotland, where they spread in the diocese of Glasgow, and “laid the foundation of an extensive and permanent spread of Lollardism [Protestantism] throughout the western parts of that kingdom.”

“Precious in the sight of God is the death of His saints” (Psalm 115:16).

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

Sources:

The Protestant, Vol. I, by William McGavin, p. 107
The Rise and Progress of Religious Life in England, by Samuel Rowles Pattison, p. 81.

It’s in the Bible: When Animals Attack

Animal attacks on humans have seen a marked increase in recent years. On Memorial Day, for example, a 4-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion at a wildlife preserve in California. The boy was hiking with a group of six adults and five children in the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, in an area known as Carson’s Crossing, when the cougar struck. His father threw rocks at the animal, and it fled, leaving the boy with non-life-threatening wounds to his head.

According to Dave Bitner, director of Wildlife Research Institute, mountain lion attacks on humans are very rare, owing to the fact that these animals normally only come out at night, and usually avoid humans. This mountain lion, however, was not afraid of humans, evidenced by the fact that while California Fish and Wildlife officials were investigating the incident, the beast returned and approached them. “The animal did not appear to be scared of the wardens, which is an indication that the animal is habituated,” an official said.

Across the Pacific, on May 29, Thomas Smiley, a retired optometrist from California, was killed by a shark while swimming off the coast of Maui. An expert swimmer and diver, Smiley was unaware that authorities were monitoring the area because of earlier shark activity. For years, experts have always said that shark attacks are rare; but, with several attacks in the last few years–two of them fatal–I think it is safe to say that is no longer the case.

Incidents of pets attacking their owners are also on the rise. Last Tuesday, a Texas woman died of injuries sustained when her two pit bulls attacked her at an animal hospital. As I reflected on this, I thought of Charla Nash, who, in 2008, was horribly disfigured in a vicious attack by her neighbor’s pet chimpanzee. I also remembered Olga Moslealyova, a young Russian woman, who, in 2001, was eaten alive by a bear and her cubs.

Experts are uncertain why animals, once afraid of human beings, are attacking in ever-increasing numbers. Some believe it is mostly due to humans encroaching on animal habitats; while others, like Dave Bitner, believe it is due to animals becoming habituated to humans. While these may help to explain the increase in wild animal attacks, they do little to explain why even domesticated animals and family pets are attacking their masters in increasing numbers. And, while there is evidence that abuse has been a factor in some instances, it is not always the case.

Whenever something cannot be attributed to natural causes, you can bet that the cause is supernatural. In such cases, I look to the Holy Bible, the infallible source of supernatural wisdom, for the answer.

You may be surprised to learn that the Bible tells us precisely why animal attacks are on the rise. Turn with me, if you will, to Chapter Nine of the Book of Genesis, which discusses the Great Flood. It has been almost a year since the first drop of rain fell, and the world was inundated with water, drowning all life. Only Noah, his family, and the animals that were aboard the Ark were spared. The waters have receded off the face of the earth, and the ark has come to rest on the mountains of Ararat. For the first time in nearly a year, Noah and his family step out of the ark onto dry land. God blesses Noah and his family, telling them to replenish the earth. We pick up there:

“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you will be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.”
Genesis 9:1,2

Did you see that? God put the fear of man into every living creature on the earth. He did this to protect Noah and his family so they wouldn’t fall prey to the animals that came off the ark. This is because, prior to sin coming into the world, all animals were tame and docile, and only ate herbs. But the sin of Adam cursed the world so badly that even the animals had become corrupted, including the animals that were with Noah on the Ark. God therefore put the fear of Noah (and subsequently all humans) into every animal, from the smallest insect to the largest mammal, so that they would not fall prey to the wild animals, which greatly outnumbered Noah and his family, and procreate at a much faster rate. Even fish and marine life were afraid of man. If God had not done this, Noah would have been doomed, and mankind with him.

What happened? Why are animals no longer afraid of us? Why are humans being attacked by virtually every kind of animal, from fish to birds? Even docile animals like cows, giraffes, and elephants are attacking humans without provocation. Has God taken the fear of man and the dread of man out of animals? The answer is “Yes.”

Open your Bible and turn with me to Chapter Six of the Revelation of Jesus Christ; which, as you may know, deals with the Seven Seal Judgments. Here is the synopsis: In his vision, the Apostle John sees God the Father sitting on His throne with a book, or scroll, in His right hand, sealed with seven seals. Each seal is associated with a judgment upon sinful mankind. An angel asks who is worthy to loose the seals from the book, and only the Lord Jesus Christ is found worthy. As each of the first four seals is loosed, one of four beasts gathered around the throne of God says, “Come and see,” and John sees a horse of a certain color and its rider. These are commonly known as the Four Horsemen. We pick up as Jesus opens the fourth seal:

“And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”
Revelation 6:7,8

Did you get that? At the opening of the fourth seal, it is pronounced that a fourth of the earth’s population would be killed with sword; hunger; and death, which are war; famine; and pestilence, respectively. The last judgment, is interesting, because the “beasts of the earth” are animals. That, my friends, means that the increase in animal attacks we see today is prophetic. It is the finger of God!

This thoroughly explains what experts cannot. While some of these attacks can certainly be attributed to the foolishness of the individuals involved, and while human encroachment on animals’ habitats may also play a role, by far, the best explanation for the increase in animal attacks is that it is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The hand of God is upon us. Scientists, therefore, can wrack their brains all they want, but it will be to no avail. Animal attacks are part of God’s judgment on the world; and you better believe that when God declares a thing, He will bring it to pass.

In spite of the increase in the frequency of these attacks, “experts” will continue to say they are rare. The attack on Thomas Smiley, for example, was the sixth this year; yet shark expert Michael Domeier said that the odds of someone being attacked by a shark are “1 in 12 million.” Granted, math is not my strong suit; but I can add pretty well: and that don’t add up.

If the Bible is true (and it is), then soon–and very soon–animal attacks will get so bad that it will be ridiculous to say they are rare. Remember, the Bible says that a quarter of the earth’s population must be killed by war, famine, disease, and animal attacks. There are almost eight billion of us on planet earth right now (7.71 billion according to World Population Review). If a quarter of that number (roughly two billion) are to be killed by war, famine, disease, and animal attacks, then (if distributed evenly) the number of the human family that will have been killed in animal attacks will be in the neighborhood of half a billion. That’s incredible!

Now don’t look for most of these attacks to be covered on the evening news, because they who run the media don’t want anyone getting scared and turning to the Lord Jesus. Social media will probably be the way most of these incidents will come to light. If not, it will still be enough for any thinking person to know that something is desperately wrong.

What must we do? We must repent! We must repent of our sins and the sins of our nation. We must repent of our idolatry. We must repent of our fornication. We must repent of our witchcraft. And we certainly must repent of our abuse and murder of the innocent. We must repent of our many sins, and seek a return to the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. We must seek out the Lord Jesus Christ, if haply we should feel for Him, though He be not far from any one of us.

If we don’t, then there just may be a lion’s paw out there with your name on it.

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

Waco: The Rules of Engagement

On the 25th anniversary of the Waco Massacre, we present the documentary, Waco: The Rules of Engagement. Lest we forget.

Let Us Break Bread

Grace and peace, Saints.

For the most part, Protestants have forgotten that the Lord Jesus commanded us to break bread in remembrance of Him. Many of us believe this only applies to the Lord’s Supper, but we should also break bread whenever we have a meal, if possible. This video explains the biblical basis for this. I pray it blesses you.

Still Here!

Grace and peace, Saints.

As usual, it has been a long time since I’ve written anything; but I’m still taking care of my son, and I’m still witnessing for the Lord Jesus. I’m trying to get the new website at www.GospelLightAndTruthCrusade.org together, and lately I’ve been concentrating on doing videos for the YouTube channel, The Gospel Light And Truth Crusade. I have seriously neglected this blog, as I’ve done a few videos and forgot to even write blog posts with the embedded videos. I’ve just completed posted another video today and I’ll post it shortly.

Please pray for me, as persecution against me is increasing steadily. God bless you all, and be encouraged, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

The Waldenses

Grace and peace, Saints.

Most of us of the household of faith know little of our Protestant heritage. We may know something of Martin Luther and the Reformation, and we may have heard of the martyrdom of William Tyndale for his valiant efforts to make the Word of God available to the common folk in the English language. But we are mostly ignorant of those faithful believers who, centuries before the Reformation, defied the Roman Catholic Church by obeying the Great Commission and preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Waldenses, a group of Bible-believing Christians who lived in the valley of the Piedmont, in France, are one such example. Today, little is known of the Waldenses, and nothing remains of their culture and literature, as the Catholic Church mounted a terrible crusade against these peaceful people for the express purpose of not only destroying them, but erasing them from memory. I have learned something of the Waldenses and of their remarkable founder, Peter Waldo; and I would like to share it with you in order to:

Preserve their memory
Inspire personal research
Remind the Body of Christ that the Roman Catholic Church is the sworn enemy of Jesus Christ, the Bible, and all Bible-believing Christians: that is, Protestants.

I quote now from Volume I of The Protestant, A Series of Essays of the Principle Points of Controversy Between The Church of Rome and the Reformed, by William McGavin.

“Early in the twelfth century, a great number of persons in Lyons, and other parts in the south of France, had their eyes opened to perceive the idolatry and absurdity of the Romish worship. The Vulgate Latin Bible was the only edition of the Scriptures at that time in Europe; and very few of the people were capable of reading it. We may well suppose, then, that the knowledge of divine things was very scanty; but nobody can tell how small the degree of knowledge is, by which a sinner may be saved, if it be but the knowledge of Christ. Multitudes, who were called the poor men of Lyons, had obtained that knowledge, and were enabled to maintain that truth, at the expense of being hated and persecuted by their neighbors.

Peter Waldo

“Providence raised up one among them, who was highly honored as an instrument of extensively propagating those truths which were, three hundred years after, embraced by Luther and his colleagues, at the time of the Reformation. This was Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, from whom it is supposed the Waldenses took their name. Having had a better education than most of his neighbors, he was able to teach the people the text of the New Testament, in their mother tongue. Here he saw clearly the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, and found peace and comfort to himself.

“He was desirous of communicating to others the knowledge of that truth which he found to be his own salvation. He abandoned his mercantile pursuits, distributed his wealth to the poor, as occasion required; and, while the latter flocked to him, to partake of his alms, he labored to engage their attention to the things which belonged to their everlasting peace. He either translated, or procured to be translated, the four Gospels into French; and had the honor of being the first who gave the Word of God in any modern language of Europe. —See this subject, more in detail, in Jones’ History of the Waldenses, 2d Ed. Chap. V. §. 1.

“Waldo laboured incessantly in propagating the truth, and in demonstrating the great difference there was between the Christianity of the Bible, and that of the Church of Rome. ‘Other Archbishop of Lyons heard of these proceedings, and became indignant. Their tendency was obvious; the honor of the Church involved in them; and in perfect consistency with the usual mode of silencing objectors among the Catholic party, he forbade the new Reformer to teach any more, on pain of excommunication, and of being proceeded against as an heretic.’—Waldo replied, ‘that though a layman, he could not be silent in a matter which concerned the salvation of his fellow creatures.’

“‘Information of these things was then conveyed to Pope Alexander III. who no sooner heard of such heretical proceedings, than he anathematized the Reformer and his adherents, commanding the Archbishop to proceed against them with the utmost rigor.’ He was now compelled to leave Lyons, and afterwards, ‘persecuted from place to place he retired into Picardy, where also success attended his labors. Driven from thence, he proceeded to Germany, carrying along with him the glad tidings of salvation; and, according to the testimony of Thuanus, a very authentic French historian, he at length settled in Bohemia, where he finished his course, in the year 1179, after a ministry of nearly twenty years.’ —Hist. Wald. vol. ii. P. 12.

The Character of the Waldenses

“The Waldenses and Albigenses were a simple harmless people; they professed no principles, and were convicted of no practices, hostile to the good order of society. Their very enemies bear ample testimony on behalf of their manner of life, as being more moral than that of those who persecuted them. Even an inquisitor, who wrote against them, says:

‘These heretics are known by their behaviour and conversation; for they are orderly and modest in their behaviour and deportment. They avoid all appearance of pride in their dress, they neither indulge in finery of attire, nor are they remarkable for being mean or ragged.

They avoid commerce, that they may be free from deceit and falsehood. They get their livelihood by manual industry, as day labourers or mechanics, and their teachers are weavers or tailors. They are not anxious about amassing riches, but content themselves with the necessities of life. They are chaste, temperate, and sober. They abstain from anger. Even when they work, they either learn or teach.

‘In like manner also, their women are very modest; avoiding backbiting, foolish jesting, and levity of speech, especially abstaining from lies or swearing, not so much as making use of the common asseverations, ‘in truth’ ‘for certain,’ or the like; because they regard these as oaths—contenting themselves with simply answering, ‘yes’ or ‘no.’’

“Claudius Seisselnius, Arbishop of Turin, says,

‘Their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians [Catholics]. In their lives and morals…they are perfect, irreprehensible, and without reproach among men, addicting themselves, with all their might, to the service of God.’

“Yet this prelate wrote against them, and joined in persecuting them, because they would not submit to all the absurdities and impieties of Rome. Lielententius, a Dominican, speaking of the Waldenses of Bohemia, says,

‘I say, that in morals and life they are good, true in words, unanimous in brotherly love; but their faith is incorrigible and vile, as I have shown in my treatise.’

Samuel De Cassini, a Franciscan friar, speaking of them in his Victoria Trionfale, explicitly owns in what respect their faith was incorrigible and vile, when he says,

‘that all the errors of these Waldenses consisted in this, that they denied the Church of Rome to be the Holy Mother Church, and would not obey her traditions.’ [Boldface mine.]

“In the time of a great persecution of the Waldenses of Merindol and Provence, a certain monk was deputed by the Bishop of Cavaillon, to hold a conference with them, that they might be convinced of their errors, and the effusion of blood prevented. But the monk returned in confusion, owning that in his whole life he had never known so much of the Scriptures as he had learned during those few days that he had been conversing with the heretics.

“The Bishop, however, sent among them a number of doctors–young men, who had lately come from the Sorbonne, which, at that time, was the very centre of theological subtetly at Paris. One of these doctors publicly owned, that he had understood more of the doctrine of salvation, from the answers of the children in their catechisms, than by all the disputations that he had ever before heard.

“Such was the character of those who professed the doctrines of the Reformation, long before the Reformation took place; and this is the character which their enemies gave them. Undoubtedly, then, they were the Church of Christ, they were the followers of the Lamb, they were the saints of God; and the Church of Rome became drunk with their blood—intoxicated with rage against them, and by success in destroying them.”

Persecution

“Attend now to the intolerant spirit of the Popish religion, and the cruelties exercised upon the followers of Peter Waldo;—The doctrines which he had taught, which were evidently those of the Gospel, spread extensively in Alsace, along the Rhine, and in many other places. ‘Persecutions ensued—thirty-five citizens of Mentz were burned in one fire, at the city of Bingen, and eighteen in Mentz itself. The bishops of both Mentz and Strasburgh [sic] breathed nothing but vengeance and slaughter against them; and, in the latter city, where Waldo himself is said to have narrowly escaped apprehension, eighty persons were committed to the flames. In the treatment and in the behavior of the Waldenses, were renewed the scenes of martyrdom of the second century. Multitudes died praising God, and in the confident hope of a blessed resurrection .’ Ibid. p. 13.

“That these cruelties were inflicted, not on the mere authority of individual bishops, but on the authority and at the instigation of the Pope of Rome, as head of the Church, appears by a decree of Pope Lucius III. against heretics, A.D. 1181, which commences thus: ‘To abolish the malignity of diverse heresies, which are lately sprung up in most parts of the world, it is but fitting that the power committed to the Church should be awakened, that, by the incurring assistance of the imperial strength, both the insolence and mal-pertness of the heretics, in their false designs, may be crushed, and the truth of Catholic simplicity shining forth in the Holy Church, may demonstrate her pure and free from execrableness of their false doctrines.

“Wherefore we, being supported by the presence and power of our most dear son, Fredrick, the most illustrious Emperor of the Romans, always successor of the empire, with the common advice and. Ourselves of our brethren, and other patriarchs, archbishops, and many princes, who, from several parts of the world, are met together, do set themselves against these heretics, who have got different names from the several false doctrines which they profess, by the sanction of the present decree, and by our apostolical authority, according to the tenor of these presents, we condemn all manner of heresy, by whatsoever it may be denominated.

“More particularly, we declare all Catharists, Patorines, and those who call themselves the poor of Lyons; the Passagines, Josephites, Arnoldists, to be under a perpetual anathema. And because some, under a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, as the Apostle saith, assume to themselves the authority of preaching; whereas the same Apostle saith, “How shall they preach, except they be sent?”—we therefore conclude, under the same sentence of a perpetual anathema, all those who either being forbid, or not sent, do notwithstanding presume to preach publicly or privately, without any authority received from the Apostolic See, or from the bishops of their respective dioceses, &c. &c.

“Thus, by authority of the Holy Father, the emperor of the Romans, and many princes from different parts of the world, any man who shall tell his neighbor about salvation by Jesus Christ, however privately, is subjected to a perpetual curse: and the decree proceeds:—“As for any layman, who shall be found guilty, either publicly or privately, of any of the aforesaid crimes, (that is, preaching, or speaking improperly of the sacraments,) unless by abjuring his heresy, and making satisfaction, he immediately return to the orthodox faith, we decree him to be left to the sentence of the secular judge, to receive consign punishment, according to the quality of the offence.” —Hist. Wald. Vol. ii. P. 15,16.

“This of giving over to the secular judge, was well understood to infer certain death, often accompanied by the most cruel tortures that the ingenuity of man could invent.

“Ildefonsus, King of Aragon, followed up this decree of the Pope [Innocent III], by one of his own, in 1194, in which he ordains that all heretics, found in his dominions, ‘be condemned and persecuted everywhere;’ that any persons who should receive any of them into their houses, or ‘be present at their pernicious sermons,’ shall ‘be punished, as if they were actually guilty of high treason.’ The Emperor Frederick II published a similar edict, with regard to those in his dominions:

“The care of the imperial government,’ says his Majesty, ‘committed to us from heaven, and over which we preside, demands the material sword, which is given to us separately from the priesthood, against the enemies of the faith, and for the extirpation of heretical pravity, that we should pursue with judgment and justice, those vipers and perfidious children, who insult the Lord and his Church, as if they would tear out the very bowels of their mother. We shall not suffer these wretches to live, being themselves corrupted, more grievously taint the flock of the faithful.’

“In another edict, the Emperor accuses them of savage cruelty to themselves:

‘Since, besides the loss of their immortal souls, they expose their bodies to a cruel death, being prodigal of their lives, and fearless of destruction, which, by acknowledging the true faith they might escape, and, which is horrible to express, their survivors are not terrified by their example. Against such enemies of God and man, with the sword of just vengeance, but shall pursue them with as much the greater vigour, as they appear to spread wider the crimes of their superstition, to the most evident injury of the Christian faith, and of the Church of Rome, which is adjudged to be the head of all churches. (Page 94-97, 2d vol. Jones, who refers to the first vol. of Limburch’s History of the Inquisition where the edicts are to be found entire.)’

“The whole power of the Romish Church, clerical and laical, was mustered against these unoffending people, whose only crimes were presuming to read and understand the Word of God for themselves, and refusing to believe all the nonsense which was taught by the Romish priests. The latter were constantly employed in preaching up crusades against them. Their favourite text was Psalm xciv. 16 (Psalm 94:16) ‘Who will rise up for me against the evil doers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?’ and the application of their sermons usually ran in the following strain:

‘You see, most dear brethren, how great the wickedness of the heretics is, and how much mischief they do in the world. You see, also, how tenderly, and by how many pious methods, the Church labours to reclaim them. But with them they all prove ineffectual, and they fly to the secular power for their defence. Therefore, our Holy Mother, the Church, though with great reluctance and grief, calls together against them the Christian army. If then you have any zeal for the faith; if you are touched with any concern for the glory of God; if you would reap the benefit of this great indulgence, come and receive the sign of the cross, and join yourselves to the army of the crucified Saviour.’

“The Pope had dispatched preachers throughout all Europe, to entice men to engage in this holy warfare. He promised paradise, and the remission of all their sins, to those who should serve forty days, which, I suppose, is what is meant by the ‘great indulgence’ mentioned above. After telling them that ‘they were not to keep faith with those who do not keep faith with God,’ he thus proceeds:–

‘We exhort you, that you would endeavour to destroy the wicked heresy of the Albigenses, and do this with more rigour than you would towards the Saracens themselves; persecute them with a strong hand; deprive them of their lands and possessions; banish them, and put Catholics in their room.’

“I shall not torture my readers with the horrible details into which this subject would lead me. It is enough to say, that, by fire and sword, the armies employed by Pope Innocent III murdered above two hundred thousand, in the short space of a few months. [Boldface mine.]

“For many years, the work of extirpating heretics was continued, at the instigation of the Pope, who commanded the princes who were subject to him, that is, all the princes of Christendom, to kill, to destroy, and cause to perish, all who presumed to differ, on any point of religion of the Church of Rome. To Louis, King of France, he says:

‘’Tis the command of God, who says:–‘If thou shalt her say in any one of the cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, let us go and serve other gods which ye have not known, thou shalt smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword.’ Although you are under many obligations already to God, for the great benefits hitherto received from him, from whom comes every good and perfect gift, yet you ought to reckon yourself more especially obliged courageously to exert yourself for him, against the subvertors of the faith, by whom he is blasphemed, and manfully to defend the Catholic purity, which many, in those parts, adhering to the doctrines of devils, are known to have cast off.’

Murder in the Snow

“In short, it seems as if the whole soul of the Pope, and of all his clergy, and of all the princes under his control, had been directed to this one object:–the murdering of those who received their religion directly from the Word of God.” I shall give only one instance of the manner in which they were treated. It is by no means the worst, but, I believe, it is as bad as any of my readers will be able to hear:

‘About the year 1400, a violent outrage was committed open the Waldenses, who inhabited the valley of Pragella, in Piedmont, by the Catholic party resident in that neighborhood. The attack, which seems to have been of the most furious kind, was made towards the end of the month of December, when the mountains were covered with snow, and thereby rendered of difficult access, that the peaceable inhabitants of the valleys were wholly unapproved that any such attempt was meditated; and the persecutors were in actual possession of their caves, ere the former seem to have been apprized of any hostile designs against them.

‘In this pitiable plight, they had recourse to the only alternative which remained for saving their lives–they fled to one of the highest mountains of the Alps, with their wives and children, the unhappy mothers carrying the cradle in one hand, and in the other leading such of their offspring as were able to walk. Their inhuman invaders, whose feet were swift to shed blood, pursued them in their flight, until night came on, and slew great numbers of them, before they could reach the mountains.

Those who escaped were, however, reserved to experience a fate not more enviable. Overaken by the shades of night, they wandered up and down the mountains, covered with snow, destitute of the means of shelter from the inclemencies of the weather, or of supporting themselves under it by any of the comforts which Providence has destined for that purpose: benumbed with cold, they fell an easy prey to the severity of the climate, and when the night had passed away, they were found in their cradles, or lying upon the snow, fourscore of their infants deprived of life, many of the mothers also lying dead by their sides, and others just upon the point of expiring.’

“This was the work of the holy Roman Church, and a thousand such things she has done. It was done by the authority of the head of the Church, with the concurrence of his prelates and patriarchs, and by the agency of kings and princes, who degraded themselves, by becoming the common executioners of the ghostly father of Rome.

“I should not bring such things against Papists [Roman Catholics] of the present day, if they would honestly say, that they condemn the conduct of the head of the Church, for such barbarous proceedings. But they will do no such thing. I never heard of one of them who would say that the Pope had done wrong, in commanding the slaughter of so many thousands of men, women, and children, for the sake of religion.

“I hold them all, therefore, guilty of consenting to the bloody work of their fathers; and it is not unfair to infer that, if they were placed in the same circumstances, and had the same power over heretics, their conduct would be the same.”

Source:

The Protestant: A Series of Essays of the Principle Points of Controversy Between The Church of Rome and the Reformed, by William McGavin, Vol. 1, Tenth Edition, 1887, Blackie and Sons, London, pp. 97-104.

Correction: The Ulster Massacre of 1641

In our article regarding the Ulster Massacre of 1641, we reported that Ulster is a town in England; when, in fact, it is a province in northeastern Ireland. The Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The name Ulster has been generally used since 1920 as another name for Northern Ireland.”

We beg your forgiveness for this error.

TSM

The Ulster Massacre of 1641

On October 21, 1641, Roman Catholics in Ulster (Northern Ireland) massacred 30,000 unarmed Protestants.

(Source: The Illustrated Dictionary of World History, William L. Langer, 1975, Vol. 1, p. 398.)

A Lesson In Gratitude

I grew up in a poor single-parent family. In fact, were it not for my grandparents, my siblings and I probably would have been a lot worse off. I remember, when I was about ten, waiting up some nights until about ten o’clock for my mother to come home from work to feed us. Dinner would consist of a hamburger, a bowl of chili, and some French fries, which I, my little brother, and my sister would divide among us. I would discover many years later that my mother was giving us her lunch, provided her by the restaurant where she worked.

I’ve always done everything I could to ensure that my children would never know what that was like; but I also realize that in so doing, they have missed out on a very important lesson: the importance of gratitude. It’s hard to be grateful for something you have always had. If you’ve slept in a warm bed all your life, it’s hard to appreciate a warm bed. If you’ve always had a warm coat in the winter, it’s hard to appreciate a warm coat. And if you’ve never missed a meal, it could be difficult to appreciate eating every day.

I was reminded of this the other day while making some hot cocoa. I used to drink cocoa occasionally as a child, and I gathered that it must have been expensive, as was milk, because it was something we rarely had. As an adult, too, I rarely drank it: not for economic reasons, but because my children, like their mother, preferred tea. That all changed in 2012, when I tried some cocoa one of my daughter’s classmates gave her a tin of cocoa as a Christmas present. I tried it, and it was great. After I finished the whole tin, I purchased a box of cocoa imported, it said, from Africa. It was very very good. Since then, I average a couple cups of cocoa a week.

My son would never even try cocoa until last year. (He was fed breastmilk until he was around two years old; and later never liked the taste of cow’s milk and wouldn’t drink it.) While passing through Baltimore en route to St. Louis, however, we stopped at Bob Evans for breakfast, and my daughter convinced him to try it. He loved it; and, since then, he now seems to prefer cocoa to tea. So, when I fix myself some cocoa, I’ll usually ask my son if he wants some too; and he usually does. But this day, he declined; because, he said, he wanted to start drinking cocoa less in order to “make it special.” Realizing that my son didn’t have a perfect understanding of the concept of special, which goes hand-in-hand with gratitude, I decided to use cocoa as a teaching point, telling him essentially the following:

A thing doesn’t become special because you do it less: a thing becomes special because you make it special. A wedding anniversary isn’t special because it happens once a year, a wedding anniversary is special because your wedding was special to you, and would still be special if you celebrated it every day. If you appreciate your husband or wife, and are thankful for him or her, then every day you spent with you husband or wife would be special, because it would be one more day you get to spend with him or her.

That Jesus Christ died and shed His blood on the cross for the sins of mankind is not special because He only did it once. It’s special because He did it for us, and He didn’t have to. If we love Him for what He did, then His sacrifice is special to us; if we don’t love Him for what He did, then His sacrifice means nothing to us.

Cocoa is special to me, whether I drink it once a day or once a year, because I choose to make it special. Every time I drink cocoa, I do so knowing that there was a time when someone like me couldn’t drink it. The cocoa bean, used to make chocolate, is grown primarily in parts of Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America, and was originally planted and cultivated by Indians, but later exclusively by African slaves. Those slaves never had the pleasure of enjoying the delicious products that resulted from their labors, including hot cocoa. When solid chocolate for making cocoa as a beverage first appeared in London in 1657, it was sold at ten to fifteen shillings a pound (Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1966), which only the wealthy could afford. In America, only in the twentieth century did cocoa became cheap enough for middle class Americans to afford; and today, even someone of little means can buy a cup of cocoa for less than two dollars.

Vanilla, extracted from the vanilla plant, is a flavoring agent that grows in many of the same regions as cocoa. In fact, vanilla is used in the manufacture of chocolate. It used to be very expensive, but now can be found in virtually every kitchen. Like cocoa, vanilla was planted, cultivated, and harvested by African slaves, and, like cocoa, vanilla was never meant to be enjoyed by those slaves, but was manufactured, marketed and sold by Europeans for Europeans. Sugar, a staple in virtually every household worldwide, has a similar history, as does cinnamon: today one of the most common spices in the world, but at one time coveted by the rich.

I flavor my cocoa with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and a little coffee (oh yeah!), all of which for hundreds of years were planted, cultivated, and harvested almost exclusively by African slaves, but never intended for them to enjoy. The fact that I can and do enjoy these things, is to me proof positive that there is a God, and that He loves and cares about me so much that He won’t deny me any good thing. And don’t get me started about clothes, shoes, a hair comb, and other things we take for granted.

The Bible says that we should be grateful for all things:

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

Gratitude is not a natural human trait. It is not natural for us to be thankful for the little things. If it were, then God would not have to command us to be thankful. Gratitude must be taught, and gratitude must be learned. They say that experience is the best teacher, but God doesn’t want us to learn every lesson by personal experience. Sometimes it is better (and less painful) to look to history, and to learn from it. When I drink a cup of cocoa, therefore, I think on my forefathers, and I thank God, knowing that if Satan had his way, I would not be drinking cocoa, and I wouldn’t know enough to be grateful that I am.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

And cocoa is a good thing.:-)

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

TSM
P.S. I also remember that it was my daughter’s cocoa that started the whole thing. Thanks Tete! (Sorry I drank the whole thing.)

Put One Foot In Front of the Other

Grace and peace, Saints!

The other day, someone asked me why I haven’t written much of anything for over a year. Well, it’s not because I don’t have anything to say, because I have plenty to say. The honest truth is that while I can function, some days it is all I can do to put one foot in front of the other. I miss my little girl terribly.

You may recall that last year I left Germany where I had lived almost twenty years, and moved back to the USA. I didn’t want to leave my family, but under the circumstances, it was necessary. My first night back home, I knew I was going to have serious problems being separated from my three-year-old when, around 3 a.m. I awoke thinking about my little girl so much that I experienced what could only be described as a panic attack. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and the house seemed so small it was suffocating me. I was worried to death about my little girl, as I realized that for the first time since she was born, I couldn’t just walk into her room and pick her up, or call her to me. For the next two hours, I paced around, unable to sleep.

Feeling helpless, I got on my knees to pray, asking the Lord Jesus to forgive me if coming back to the States and leaving my little girl with her mother and sisters was a mistake. I told Him that I knew that it was not me who had always kept my children safe, but He. As a man, I’m not even in control of my own life, let alone my children’s lives. In order for me to have any peace at all, therefore, I was going to have to give my children completely to the Lord Jesus, and trust Him to care for my little girl and keep her safe. And I had to forgive myself for leaving her behind at such a young age, when it was my intention never to leave her. I’m just a man, and there is only so much I can do. I had been playing Superman for almost two decades; now it was time to take off the cape and concede that I was Clark Kent full time. I have no super powers.

I had to recognize that some things are not meant to be, especially in this spiritual warfare, as not everyone wants to do God’s will. I also had to remember that the Bible says, “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). If I love God, therefore, which I do; and if I am called by God, which I am, then everything that happens to me also happens for me–and for my good, even something as painful as being separated from my little one.

And I’m not the only one who has to deal with separation. My son has also had to deal with it, as he came with me. Being the only boy in the family, he has had to learn to live without his mother and sisters, the only female influences in his life. I praise God that he has learned to cope with the situation very well under the circumstances, and is getting stronger every day. He knows things can never go back to the way they were before, but being also of the household of faith, he believes and knows that everything that is happening is part of God’s plan for our lives. Sometimes, I remind my son how Joseph, the son of Jacob, was separated from his family for many years because of a spiritual warfare that was raging in his home; and I remind him that Joseph understood that all the evil that had befallen him was ultimately part of God’s plan not only for his life, but for his family’s also.

But when I just want to lighten his spirits and encourage him, I sing “Put One Foot In Front of the Other,” from the animated cartoon, Santa Clause Is Coming To Town. When nothing else will do, that always does the trick–for me as well as for him.

The Lord Jesus promised that when He comes, he will wipe all tears from our eyes. The pain and loneliness of separation will be but a distant memory when we see His face and receive the reward for our steadfastness and faith in Christ Jesus. Until then, we must be patient and encouraged, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other!

God bless and keep you, and please pray for me and my family.

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

Your servant,

TSM

The Truth About Freemasonry: Freemasonry is Roman Catholic

Grace and peace.

Today, using quotes from eminent Freemasons, we shall illustrate that Freemasonry is a Roman Catholic institution.

“Symbolic Masonry [Freemasonry], under whatever form it may be propounded, is a Catholic institution, democratic in its form and government, and universal in its operation.” [Brackets mine, boldface mine, CAPS in the original.]

–A Dictionary of Freemasonry, p. 484.

“The inward development which the second degree symbolizes is typified by the lowering of the triangular flap of the apron upon the rectangular portion below. This is equivalent to the rite of Confirmation in the Christian [Roman Catholic] Churches.” [Brackets mine, boldface mine.]

–The Meaning of Masonry, p.40.

“Masonry is a sacramental system, possessing, like all [Roman Catholic] sacraments, an outward and visible side consisting of its ceremonial, its doctrine and its symbols which we can see and hear, and an inward, intellectual and spiritual side, which is concealed behind the ceremonial, the doctrine and symbols, and which is available only to the Mason who has learned to use his spiritual imagination and who can appreciate the reality that lies behind the veil of outward symbol.” [Brackets mine, boldface mine.]

–The Meaning of Masonry, p. 21.

“Iranaeus, Tertullian, Clemens, Origen, and Gregory, of Nyssa, also furnish abundant proofs that the primitive [Roman Catholic] church was a secret society. Indeed, so well known was this peculiar organization that nearly all ancient writers, Christian or Pagan, have noticed this fact. Indeed the Christian [Roman Catholic] right [sic] of baptism itself has an evident relation, as Cyril of Jerusalem represents, to the initiatory rites of Isis, Eleusis, Samothrace and Phrygia.” [Brackets mine, boldface mine.]

–A Dictionary of Freemasonry, p. 121 “DISCIPLINA ARCANA.”

“Masonry is not the Coliseum in ruins. It is rather a Roman palace of the middle ages…” [Boldface mine.]

–Morals and Dogma, p. 23.

Sources:

A Dictionary of Freemasonry, by Robert Macoy, 1989, Bell Publishing Company, New York.

The Meaning of Masonry, by W.L. Wilmshurst, 1980, Bell Publishing Company, New York.

Morals and Dogma, by Albert C. Pike.

The Truth About Freemasonry: Freemasonry is not Christian

It’s no secret that many who name the name of Christ are Freemasons. In fact, many deacons, elders, and even pastors are members of the Masonic Fraternity. It is so bad that some masonic lodges even have their own churches.

Masonic Church of Christ

Can there be any question as to why many of our communities are so devastated?

I remember visiting a church about ten years ago where Freemasons were members of the church’s leadership, and were even sporting their Masonic rings in church. It happened on this wise: My children and I were visiting a particular church in St. Louis for the first time, as we didn’t have a church home. While listening to the pastor’s sermon, my daughter drew my attention to the hand of a man seated in the pew in front of us, whose arm was draped over the back of the pew. I looked, and noticed that the man was wearing a Masonic ring. I always carried at least one tract on Freemasonry on me at all times so, leaning over to the man, I discreetly asked if I could give him something. When he answered that it would be OK, I handed him a Chick gospel tract on the subject of Freemasonry. He looked briefly at the cover, and, after reading the tract for about then minutes, he handed it to the man seated next to him, who looked at it briefly and placed it in his breast pocket. After the service, the second man, visibly upset, walked up to me and told me that I “had better be careful,” adding that the man to whom I had given the tract was his brother, which I took to mean his brother in Masonry. Almost yelling, the man told me there was nothing wrong with Freemasonry, and that Masons do a lot of good in the church and in the community, adding that he was a deacon, and telling me that the Masons had helped many people in the church. He even went so far as to call a young man seated in the pew across the aisle to tell me about all the help his Lodge had given him when he was in dire straits.

I told the man that I had no problem with Freemasons as people, and that I was very aware of what the Masons do in the community, such as the Shriner’s Hospital for Children. The problem I had is that Freemasonry is a pagan religion, and therefore has no place in the Church. A Christian, I told him, should not be a Freemason, and a Freemason has no business being a member of a Christian church, let alone holding any church position, as the spirit of Freemasonry is not the Lord Jesus Christ, but Satan himself.

Well, you can probably imagine how that went over. The man was so angry, he almost forgot he was in church. “You better watch yourself!” He exclaimed. “You know I’m right,” I told him. “That’s why you’re angry. If I were wrong, you would just blow me off. The fact that you can’t speaks volumes.”

Walking off, he repeated that I had better be careful, and out the door he went. When he was gone, the man, to whom I had given the tract, came over and apologized for the man’s behavior, assuring me that he would read the tract better when he got home. We said goodbye, and he left.

Afterwards, I went straight to the pastor and advised him that he had church officials who were not only Freemasons, but also were not ashamed to wear their Masonic rings in the sanctuary. I was mildly surprised to discover that the pastor knew this full well. After reassuring me that he himself was not a Mason, and that he knew that Freemasonry was not consistent with the Bible, the pastor went on to extol the piety and steadfastness of the Masons in his church, explaining that they had helped many in his congregation with their personal problems. He made no effort to explain why he allowed Freemasons in his church to hold leadership positions, and even wear their Masonic rings in the sanctuary during service.

That was when I learned for myself that the Christian Church is in trouble. Because pastors are not obeying God’s commandment to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11), paganism in the form of Freemasonry and Witchcraft have taken over our churches, and their ministers even preach from our pulpits.

I live by the old adage that if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem. I didn’t bring Freemasonry into the Church, and I cannot stop Freemasons from wielding influence over it; but I can do my part to make the Protestant (biblical) position clear on the subject of Freemasonry and to possibly help someone who has been deceived into believing that a Christian can be a Freemason and still please God, because that is a lie from the pit of Hell.

Freemasons are souls for whom Christ died, and they deserve to know the truth of their religion. The first truth is that Freemasonry is indeed a Mystery Religion, making it, by definition, idolatry and witchcraft. And idolatry and witchcraft are irreconcilable with the Bible. Christians, therefore, have no business in Freemasonry, and active Freemasons have no business being members of the Church, let alone holding positions of leadership. Period.

To the end that we may know the truth (as the Truth shall make us free), beginning today, I will share with you what Freemasons themselves say about their religion–and it is a religion–that you may decide for yourself if Christians should be Freemasons.

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

TSM

Was Sir Francis Drake A Black Man?

Grace and peace, Saints.

They say that history is written by the winners; and we know that though history books may say one thing, often the truth is far different. The marginalized segments of any society are almost never fairly represented in the historical record, as they are rarely–if ever–called on to give their version of events. This is true with many peoples and ethnic groups, but, arguably, no race or ethnic group has been more misrepresented in the historical record than the Negro. Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, is a good example. Most sources say Hannibal Barca was white, but ancient coins depict Hannibal as a black man. It is also an historical fact that after the Roman general, Scipio defeated Hannibal, he was given the surname Africannus, which would seem to support the contention that Hannibal was Black.

Then there is the curious case of Sir Francis Drake. Drake was an English admiral, adventurer, and navigator, who is considered “the greatest and most famous of Elizabethan seamen.” Drake is credited with some of the greatest victories in British naval history. Most portraits of Drake, such as the one below, portray him as a white man:

This, however, is an image of Sir Francis Drake taken from the Illustrated Dictionary of World History, Vol. 1, p. 394:

The Encyclopedia Brittanica describes Drake as being “of medium stature, blonde, rather heavy than slender, merry, careful” (p. 626); but this photo clearly contradicts that description. Intrigued, I googled “Sir Francis Drake Black” and “Sir Francis Drake Negro” and was surprised that Drake’s ethnicity has been called into question by others, though not many. I also found this interesting photo of a famous jewel said to have been given to Drake by Queen Elizabeth I, which he was said to have worn hanging from his belt.

The jewel clearly features a black man and what appears to be a white woman. I was not at all surprised to learn that though the jewel is well known in England, few seem to question whether the black man may be Drake himself. One article, in fact, said that the man could not be Drake because he is clean-shaven! Another article, written by an English freelance historian, said that the black man on the Blake Jewel, “has been interpreted as a symbol of Drake’s alliance with the Cimaroons,” African slaves who had run away from their Spanish captors. The article did not, however, question whether the black man could possibly be Drake.

There are two possible reasons why few question if Drake were black. The first reason is obvious. For the British, Drake is a national hero, and stories of his deeds of daring have excited the imagination of Britons for centuries. So famous and influential was Drake that it is said that he “founded the British naval tradition.” For many, it would be a hard pill to swallow if it turned out that Drake was, in fact, black.

The second reason is not so obvious today, but would have been in Drake’s day. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, Sir Francis Drake “inherited an ardent Protestantism” from his father, who was a preacher. Drake served his entire career under the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I, who was succeeded by King James I, also a Protestant. King James, as you may know, was responsible for the Authorized Version of the Bible. Protestantism allows a person to excel regardless of race, color, creed, or station, and Drake is a prime example. Even for a white man, his accomplishments and meteoric rise to the upper echelons of British society were extraordinary, given that Drake was not from the upper class, but was, in fact, of very humble stock.

Drake had been very successful in defending Protestant England against her mortal foe, Roman Catholic Spain; so it is not hard to imagine that during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James, history would have been very kind to Drake. But, alas, England eventually fell at the feet of the Pope, where it remains prostrate until this day. Considering the damage he inflicted on Spain’s “Invinsible Armada,” Drake no doubt incurred the undying enmity of the Vatican. If he were black, therefore, it is highly likely that that fact would be all but forgotten by historians, a great many of whom just happen to be Roman Catholic.

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

TSM

Sources:

Encyclopedia Brittanica, vol. vii, 1966.

The Illustrated Dictionary of World History, by Harry Abrams, vol. i, 1975.

What Roman Catholics Really Believe: The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Once again, today, August 15, marks the celebration of the Roman Catholic feast day known as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Assumption. A Practical Catholic Dictionary says this about the Assumption:

“The taking into Heaven of the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary soon after her death. The word assumption comes from the Latin word assumere (to take up) and the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was free from original sin and so was not subject to death in the same way that creatures are, was taken into Heaven and united to her son. The Feast of the Assumption is August 15 and is a holiday of obligation in the United States. Belief in Our Lady’s Assumption goes back to early Christian days. On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption as a dogma of the Church. See dogma. A new Proper for the Mass for the day shows Mary in her bodily glory. The Introit begins, ‘A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” Apocalypse XII 1.’ (p. 29).

A holiday of obligation is one of the six feast days a Catholic must be present at Mass. In the United States those six days are: Christmas (December 25), the Circumcision (January 1); Ascension Thursday (forty days after Easter); the Assumption (August 15); All Saints Day (November 1); and the Immaculate Conception (December 8).

There are many problems with the doctrine of the Assumption, the most obvious being the fact that nowhere in the Bible is it taught that Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, was taken into heaven. It is assumed that Enoch, the great grandson of Adam, was taken into heaven, because the Bible says that he “walked with God: and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 4:24), and we know that the prophet Elijah was taken into heaven on a chariot of fire. Nowhere, however, does the Bible say that Mary the mother of Jesus was taken into heaven.

A Practical Catholic Dictionary says that the belief in the Assumption “goes back to early Christian days,” yet it was not made a Catholic Church dogma until 1950. If it were true, however, that the early Christians recognized and believed in the doctrine of the Assumption, then this would be recorded in the Bible. That it is not means that the Assumption does not go back to early Christian days, but to early Roman Catholic Church days.

Moreover, the Catholic Church says that the Assumption was made a dogma in 1950, but the feast of the Assumption was only introduced as a liturgical feast in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Sergius I, who reigned from 687-701 (Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 16, p. 385.) This then, is the earliest known record of the doctrine of the Assumption: some six centuries later than the establishment of the Christian Church (33 AD), and three centuries after the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church (330 AD).

This should all come as no surprise to Bible-believing Christians, as very little of what is taught in the Roman Catholic Church can be found in the Bible, including the Immaculate Conception: the Catholic belief that the Virgin Mary was free from original sin. This dogma is contrary to the Bible, which teaches that all are born with the sin of Adam and Eve:

“Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).
“For if through the offence of one [Adam] many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many” (Romans 5:15).

If the Virgin Mary were sinless, then the Bible would be a lie, because, according to the Bible, it is because of sin that we all die. This includes Mary, the mother of Jesus. If the Virgin Mary were really the biblical Mary, therefore, then she died, because she was born into sin like the rest of us. If the Virgin Mary did not die, then the Virgin Mary could not have been the biblical Mary, the mother of Jesus. And I have been saying that for years.

Jesus never sinned a day in His life, and it is for this reason that He rose on the third day. Death couldn’t hold Him, because He did nothing to deserve death. Mary, the mother of Jesus, however, was subject to death because she was born under the curse of Adam like all humans.

The Catholic Church worships the Virgin Mary as a deity, which is obvious when it says that the Virgin Mary “was not subject to death in the same way that creatures are.”A creature, according to the Random House Collegiate Dictionary,is “anything created, whether animate or inanimate.” If the Virgin Mary were not created, then the implication is that the Virgin Mary must be the Creator, as there is no other option.

The doctrine of the Assumption calls Jesus Christ a liar; as the Lord Jesus, said:

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13).

To those who say that when Jesus said “no man” He meant no male, I say to you that when Jesus said “no man” He was using the inclusive masculine, the same inclusive masculine He used in John 14:6 when He said, “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” Jesus therefore meant “no man or woman.” And to those who would say that Jesus was talking about the past and not the future, I would call your attention to the fact that when Jesus made this declaration He had not yet been crucified, let alone risen. The Lord Jesus was therefore in effect saying, “No one has ever ascended into heaven, nor will ever ascend into heaven, but me, the only One who has ever come down from heaven.”

The doctrine of the Assumption deifies the Virgin Mary by further ascribing to this idol qualities and characteristics that belong exclusively to the Lord Jesus. This is further proven by the fact that according to A Practical Catholic Dictionary, the Virgin Mary was taken into heaven and “united to her son.” It doesn’t say “united with,” mind you; it says “united to.” To unite in this fashion means “to join, combine, or incorporate so as to form a single unit or whole” (Random House Collegiate Dictionary). With this statement, the Roman Catholic Church is actually declaring that the Virgin Mary is part of the Godhead.

But, the Bible says:

“There are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three [not four] are One” (1 John 5:7).

There is no mention of the Virgin Mary.

The Bible then adds this final Word:

“If we receive the witness of men [the Roman Catholic Church], the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which He hath testified of his Son” (1 John 5:9).

Amen.

–TSM

Memorial Day 2018

Grace and peace.

On behalf of the Gospel Light And Truth Crusade and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for all the men, women and families who fought and died to defend the Constitution for the United States of America against all enemies FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.

I also want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to President Abraham Lincoln, hero of the Republic, defender of Liberty, opposer of Tyranny and Treason and the soldiers and their families who fought against the Great Rebellion; for, without their many sacrifices, I would not be writing this, and many of you would not be reading this.

God bless all who love the Lord Jesus Christ and the United States of America in sincerity!

TSM

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh!

TSM

Happy Health-aversary To Me!

Grace and peace, Saints!

Yesterday I realized it has been over two years since I suffered a potentially fatal stroke, in January 2016. This was actually the second stroke I suffered, the first being just two months prior in November 2015. The fact that I survived two strokes is a miracle in and of itself; but, given the second stroke was a hemorrhagic stroke, that I am writing about it today is a miracle of epic proportions: for me, that is.

For those of you who may not know, a hemorrhagic stroke is one in which arteries or blood vessels in the brain bleed or rupture. Hemorrhagic strokes are especially deadly because the loss of blood supply and accumulation of blood on and surrounding the brain leads to the death of brain tissue and brain tissue damage. The stroke I suffered was pretty bad, and the bleeding on my brain was quite severe: so severe, in fact, that the chief surgeon of the stroke unit at the hospital where I was treated was amazed my appearance and the functionality I retained, for my brain scan told a different story.

The survival rate for a hemorrhagic stroke is 27% (about 1 in 4), and of those who die, most do so within days or weeks of the event. Some, however, have died as late as six months to a year later, making it difficult to know when a person is really out of danger. And, because many people who suffer a hemorrhagic stroke often suffer a second, I watched the calendar pretty closely for about eighteen months. But, realizing this was both counterproductive and a hindrance to enjoying whatever time I had left, I decided to shift my focus to taking care of myself and doing all I could to prevent another stroke. So, I made some lifestyle adjustments, which included regular exercise, eating sensibly, and managing stress; and I managed to lower my blood pressure, lose excess weight, and improve my overall physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Now, more than two years later, I am healthier than I have been in over twenty five years.

At this point, it is important for me to mention that not only does hemorrhagic stroke have a high mortality rate, but less than 10% of survivors make a full recovery. I’m not yet 100%, but I wasn’t 100% before the stroke either. My counselor at the rehabilitation center told me I should look at my recovery in terms of years rather than months, and this is what I do. And because I’m doing everything I was doing before the stroke and more, I’m claiming my healing and giving the Lord Jesus all the glory.

My health-aversary is important to me because, two years ago, the future was very uncertain. When I was in the hospital recovering from the first stroke, I remember wondering if I would ever again go for walks with my then two-year-old daughter, or ride my bike, as I had suffered partial loss of sight in one eye. I remember sitting in the hospital emergency waiting room and not being able to see any of the people seated on one side of the room, and what I could see was hazy. I recall thinking that the magazine I was reading to distract myself could quite possibly be the last thing I would ever read. I even got angry with myself because I had never experimented with the speech-to-text software on my laptop. When I was in the hospital being treated for the second stroke, I wondered if I would ever again go for runs with my children, or play basketball with my young son. As the Lord Jesus would have it, I took several walks with my daughter in 2016 and 2017, and, two years later, I have both run and biked with my children and now work out several times a week with my son. In fact, I am healthier now and in better shape than I have been in the previous twenty-five years.

By showing me that under the circumstances, I am doing very well, the Lord Jesus is reminding me just how blessed I am to even be alive–let alone thriving–and that I have come incredibly far in the last couple of years, which is very important, because the last twelve months have been very difficult for me and my children. In May of last year, my son and I relocated to America, leaving my wife and daughters in Munich, Germany. If you have been following this blog for any appreciable length of time, then you know that my witness for Jesus has come at a price, and my family has suffered much. Leaving half my family in Germany was not a decision I wanted to make, but it was necessary, under the circumstances, especially if I were to make a complete recovery. Leaving my teenagers was bad enough, but leaving my four-year-old behind at a time when she really needed her father was really hard. Her personality was just starting to form, and she and I were really enjoying spending time together. I miss going to the playground with her and playing in the sandbox, and, afterwards, running around in the subway station with her and catching the elevator up and down. We used to have so much fun going shopping together, as this was when I would teach her about the world and probe her mind as she talked endlessly about any and every thing that crossed her mind. I miss her coming into my office when I would be writing or doing research, and asking me to play gospel music for her on my laptop, after which she would pull her little table up next to my desk and ask for a pencil and paper so she could draw.

While I don’t regret my decision to leave (my recovery depended on it, to say nothing of my ministry and Christian testimony), hearing my little girl tell me on the phone, “You forgot about me,” made me very sad. So I had really been down, since leaving Munich, and this is the principle reason I have done very little writing over the last year. It was not until the other day–and again just a couple of hours ago–when the Lord Jesus reminded me just how fortunate I am, that I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself, and remember that the Bible tells us to be thankful for all things. I understand and know that despite all that has happened, the Lord has been very good to me and my children. All things considered, we are alive and in relatively good health, and this is of no small importance.

Besides the disposition of our eternal soul, there is nothing more important than our health. Satan is a master of diversion, and he is pretty good at diverting our attention from how blessed we really are to how bad things appear to be. He knows it can be hard to praise God and be grateful for what we have when we’re going through a difficult time, so he gives us as difficult a time as he can. But God is good all the time, and He has promised never to put more on us than we can handle. No matter how bad things get, they will always get better, if only for a time, as highs and lows and peaks and valleys are all a part of the job description.

As I told my son today, as long as we can put one foot in front of the other, we can talk about ourselves using the future tense, and all things are possible. But, once we give up the ghost, people can only talk about us in the past tense, and nothing at all is possible. So, take care of yourself!

“And we know that all things work for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

TSM