Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Waco Massacre. YouTube took down the documentary entitled Waco: The Rules of Engagement, but you can watch it on my Facebook page. Lest we forget.
TSM
He Said/She Said: February 16, 2017
“Nothing was so expensive as a gun. For the gun, they sacrificed everything, usually life.”
-Ilija Ivanovic, Witness to Jasenovac’s Hell, p. 18.
–Ilija Ivanovic, Witness to Jasenovac Hell, p. 18.
Ivanovic is a Serb survivor of the notorious Croatian concentration camp at Jasenovac. The Roman Catholic Croats massacred over 700,000 Orthodox Serbs (of a population of only a few million) during the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia, in WWII. Prior to the attempted genocide of the Serbs, the Roman Catholic government banned all weapons in the Independent State of Croatia.
What Roman Catholics Really Believe: The Purification of the Virgin Mary
February the 2nd marks the celebration of the Roman Catholic feast day known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Purification of Our Lady, Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, or, as it is known in Germany, Candlemas. First instituted by Pope Sergius I, this holiday is based on the Roman Catholic belief that the Virgin Mary, after the birth of the Lord Jesus, went to the Jewish temple at Jerusalem to be purified and to present the child Jesus to the Lord God.
A Practical Catholic Dictionary explains it thus:
“This feast is in memory of Our Lady’s purification in the Temple after the birth of Jesus. According to the Jewish law, a mother, after the birth of a child, went to the Temple to present the child and to be purified after childbirth. The Presentation in the Temple is commemorated in the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The Feast of the Purification is also called Candlemas Day.”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 179
Purification was done in obedience to the law of Moses:
“If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his [the child’s] foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.
“And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: Who shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her: and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law of her that hath born a male or a female.”
Leviticus 12:2-4, 6-7
According to this passage, purification involved both a physical component and a spiritual component. The physical component was a period of thirty-three days following the birth of a child, during which time a woman’s blood flow cleansed her of afterbirth. The spiritual component involved the woman making a sin offering in order to atone for her sins. The physical component was accomplished at home, whereas the spiritual component was accomplished at the temple in Jerusalem.
Because a woman’s purification had to be accomplished before she made her sin offering (Leviticus 12:6), Mary, the mother of Jesus, would not have gone to the temple to be purified; but, in fact, would have been purified before she even went to Jerusalem. Moreover, as during her purification, a woman was not allowed to enter the sanctuary, or touch any sacred thing, Mary would not have even been allowed to enter the temple, much less offer a sacrifice, a thing hallowed unto the Lord.
The fact that she was not only allowed into the temple, but, did, in fact, make a sin sacrifice, could only mean that when Mary went to Jerusalem, her purification had already been completed. The Bible confirms this:
“When the days of her [Mary’s] purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.”
Luke 2:22,24
It is clear from the Bible that Mary the mother of Jesus, went to the temple to offer a sin sacrifice, and the time of her purification had already been accomplished. Why, then, does the Roman Catholic Church teach that the Virgin Mary went to the temple to be purified? I believe it is to bolster the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, the belief that the Virgin Mary was not born with original sin.
A Practical Catholic Dictionary defines the Immaculate Conception as:
“The privilege by which the Blessed Virgin was free from original sin from the very moment of her conception. Her soul was filled with sanctifying grace at its creation. The word immaculate means free from any stain, that is, perfectly pure. The Blessed Virgin Mary was perfectly pure from her first moment of being.”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 118
The Roman Catholic Church says that the Virgin Mary is the same as the biblical Mary, the mother of Jesus; yet the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception cannot be reconciled with the Bible’s testimony that Mary, the mother of Jesus considered herself a sinner. If the Virgin Mary and the biblical Mary are the same person, then either the Roman Catholic Church is wrong, or the Bible is wrong. If, however, the Virgin Mary and Mary, the mother of Jesus, are not the same person, then it is entirely possible that the Virgin Mary is sinless.
As a Protestant, I believe the Bible’s testimony that Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew she was a sinner, and offered a sin sacrifice in accordance with the law of Moses. I therefore cannot accept the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception with regard to Mary, the mother of Jesus. I can, however, accept the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception with regard to the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary, because the Virgin Mary is an idol of stone; and an idol of stone cannot sin.
The Roman Catholic Church claims to be infallible, so it would never abandon a doctrine so central to its existence as the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, simply because it does not agree with the Bible. What it would do, and, in fact, has done, is change the Bible’s testimony regarding Mary’s visit to the temple, to make it fit the unbiblical doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. This is because virtually all doctrines concerning the Virgin Mary hang on the Immaculate Conception, especially the doctrine that the Virgin Mary is Co-Redeemer and Mediatrix with the Lord Jesus.
The doctrine of the Purification is further proof that the Virgin Mary is not Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, but another Mary. The Bible calls this other Mary the “Virgin Daughter of Babylon” and the “Lady of Kingdoms” (Isaiah 47:1,5).
“Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
What Roman Catholics Really Believe: Penance
Grace and peace to the saints, and greetings to the lost.
Today we continue our discussion on the Roman Catholic celebration known as Lent. As we discussed in Part One of this essay, A Practical Catholic Dictionary says that during the 40-day Lenten celebration, Roman Catholics pray, fast, go to confession, and do penance in order to:
1. prepare themselves for the Easter celebration,
2. identify with the Lord Jesus who fasted and prayed for forty days when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness,
3. make “partial satisfaction” for their sins.
No, that last item was not a misprint. According to A Practical Catholic Dictionary during Lent, Roman Catholics make partial satisfaction for their sins. Now, the Holy Bible says the Lord Jesus died and shed His blood on the cross to redeem the world from sin, and that this redemption propitiated (which means to satisfy or appease) God:
“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”
Romans 3:23-25
“And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:2
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
1 John 4:10
The verb propitiate derives from the Latin propitiare which means “to appease.” By calling the Lord Jesus the propitiation for our sins, the Bible is declaring that Jesus’ death and the shedding of His blood appeased God’s anger and satisfied His sense of justice. You may note that Romans 3:25 says that redemption is in Christ Jesus, because God Himself ordained Jesus for this task. God doesn’t do anything by half. He would not send His only begotten Son into the world to suffer a horrible death only to “partially” redeem us from sin. Jesus’ sacrifice, therefore, was complete and satisfactory.
If Roman Catholics, however, believe that Jesus’ sacrifice was only partially satisfactory and will therefore not accept His sacrifice as full payment for their sins, then they must look to something or someone else to satisfy God’s wrath. Foreseeing this need, the Roman Catholic church has provided several something elses, and one of these is called penance. The Roman Catholic church defines penance as:
“prayers or good works required of the penitent (Catholic) by the priest who has heard his confession. This penance satisfies in part for the sins confessed.”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 170
Through penance, the Roman Catholic seeks to appease God by personally participating in the redemptive work. Through good works, he hopes to save himself. Penance is so important to Roman Catholicism that it is one of the seven sacraments, or “channels of grace” by which Catholics attempt to earn their way into Heaven. A Practical Catholic Dictionary says this about the Sacrament of Penance:
“The sacrament by which sins committed after Baptism are forgiven through the absolution of the priest. To receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily a person must, first, examine his conscience; second, be sorry for his sins; third, have the firm purpose of not sinning again; fourth, confess his sins to the priest; and fifth, perform the penance the priest gives him. “
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 170
Many of you already knew that Roman Catholics confess their sins to a priest, who they believe is able to absolve them of their sins. What you now know is that the act of confession is tied to and incomplete without the performance of the penance (good work) imposed upon the Roman Catholic by his priest. Through penance, the Roman Catholic believes he is partially satisfying his sins.
Penance can take many forms, from reciting the Rosary (Roman Catholic prayer) x amount of times, to crawling around the church floor on one’s knees. Some Catholics even perform something known as corporal mortification, which can take the form of whipping oneself, or even placing sharp objects in one’s shoes to inflict pain. The object is to suffer in some way.
But why do Roman Catholics need to make partial satisfaction for their sins, when the Roman Catholic church claims to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood to redeem them from their sins? The answer may surprise you. In reality, the Roman Catholic church does not believe Jesus’ sacrifice fully redeemed them from sin. The concept of partial satisfaction already demonstrates this, and we can see this further by looking at the Roman Catholic definition of redemption:
“The word redemption really means buying back. Jesus Christ, by His sufferings and death on the Cross, bought back for men the right to be children of God and heirs of Heaven. Because Jesus Christ was God, He was able to give infinite satisfaction for the sins of men.”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 182
The Dictionary begins by defining redemption as buying back, but instead of declaring that by His death and the shedding of His blood, the Lord Jesus redeemed us from sin, the Catholic church uses the unbiblical term “infinite satisfaction,” effectively implying that Jesus’ sacrifice did not redeem us from sin. Moreover, stating that Jesus’ sacrifice was able to give infinite satisfaction, rather than stating that His sacrifice infinitely satisfied, implies that Jesus’ sacrifice was infinitely partially satisfactory. That Jesus’ sacrifice is viewed by the Catholic church as infinitely partially satisfactory, means that the Roman Catholic must spend the rest of his life on earth doing good works in order to make partial satisfaction for his sins.
This agrees with the testimony of former Roman Catholic, Monica Farrell, who writes:
“I knew the Lord Jesus died on Calvary, and had He not died nobody could get to heaven. What I did not know was that because He died anybody could go to heaven. We were told that the death of Christ opened the gate to heaven, but that you had to work your own way in, and that was just what I couldn’t do. So, to [sic] all intents and purposes, the gate of heaven might just as well have been closed.”
From Rome to Christ, p. 24
By “working your own way in,” Ms. Farrell was referring to penance. Note that she knew in her heart that there was no way she could possibly work her way into heaven. She could never be “good enough.”
But works salvation does not only pose a problem for the Roman Catholic in this life. The Bible teaches that there is another life after this one, as the soul lives eternally. Because the Roman Catholic church believes that Jesus’ sacrifice was not just partially satisfactory, but infinitely partially satisfactory, and for this reason has rejected the sacrifice of Jesus as full payment for their sins, how will Catholics fully satisfy their sins in the life to come? What can the Roman Catholic do after death? The answer is Purgatory:
“Purgatory – Place and state of punishment in which the soul suffers for a time in order to be cleansed before going to Heaven. In Purgatory venial sins and mortal sins, which have been confessed but for which full satisfaction has not been made, must be removed by purification before the soul is ready for Heaven. The word purgatory comes from the Latin word purgare, meaning to cleanse.”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 179
This is where the Roman Catholic is thoroughly deceived. His church rejects the sacrifice of Jesus, effectively denying the Atonement, and teaches him that Jesus’ sacrifice is not only partially satisfactory, but infinitely partially satisfactory. Infintely means “without end”; in other words, forever. Through penance the Roman Catholic seeks to make up the rest. When he dies, he believes he goes to Purgatory to purge his remaining sins to ready his soul for Heaven. The only way he can go to Heaven is that full satisfaction for his sins be made. But, in Purgatory, the Roman Catholic can no longer do penance, take communion, or in any other way make partial satisfaction for his sins. If, then, the Roman Catholic must remain in Purgatory until his sins are fully satisfied, but there is no other way for him to partially satisfy his sins, then the Roman Catholic will never leave Puragatory! Think about it: if Jesus’ sacrifice was only partially satisfactory, penance is only partially satisfactory, and there are no more partially satisfactory works that can be performed in Purgatory, then the Roman Catholic’s sins can never be “fully satisfied!” He will never leave Purgatory!
Now consider this: recall that Purgatory is based on the Latin word purgare. Did you know that this word also means “to burn?” Yes, the Roman Catholic church teaches that in Purgatory, a Catholics remaining sins will be purged or burned off. If the Roman Catholic can never make full satisfaction for his sins, this means that he will burn in Purgatory forever! Can you think of another place where a person will burn forever? I can:
“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast [the Roman Catholic pope] and his image [the Virgin Mary], and whosoever receiveth the Mark of his name [the cross keys of Simon Peter].“
Revelation 14:11
Can you now see the deception?! Roman Catholics will believe they are in Purgatory and that their stay will be only “for a time,” only to find out that they are really in Hell, and that their torment will be forever. Wake up Catholics!
The Bible says that that our works–good are otherwise–are as “filthy rags” to Him. There is no good work we could do that would wash away our sins in God’s eyes. The Bible says we can not be justified by works, because works salvation was under the law, which was done away with the death of Jesus.
“Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of [good] works? Nay: but by the law of faith. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds [good works] of the law.”
Romans 3:27,28
This agrees with Ephesians 2:8,9 which says:
“For by grace [of the Lord Jesus Christ, not the Virgin Mary] are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of [good] works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9
If you are a Roman Catholic who truly loves the living Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, and you want to do his will, then the Lord Jesus is calling you out of the romish church:
“Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
Revelation 18:4
Halloween: Proof That America Is Evil
“America is great because she is good. When America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
Alexis de Tocqueville.
Grace and peace, Saints.
In five days, Americans will celebrate All Hallows Eve, commonly known as Halloween. Americans celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costumes, attending parties, and canvassing the neighborhood collecting candy. Halloween is probably the most popular of all American holidays, which is notable because, of the four most popular American holidays: Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, Halloween is the only one that is not associated with God. This could be considered the greatest evidence of the depravity of Americans, and proves without a doubt that America is an evil nation.
It should first be noted that of the four principle American holidays, only Halloween has no ostensible religious connection. Ostensible, I say, because though all four holidays are descended from pagan European festivals, all but Halloween are widely believed to be Christian in origin. Christmas, celebrated by many as the anniversary of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, is actually the celebration of the end of the winter solstice. Easter, believed by many to be a celebration of the day the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected, is actually a reenactment of the pagan European spring fertility festival in honor of Eostre, the goddess of the dawn. And Thanksgiving, widely believed to have originated with the Pilgrims as a feast thanking God for bringing them through that brutal first winter, actually began in Europe as a pagan harvest festival. Only Halloween or Hallowed E’en (Hallowed Evening) makes no pretense to being a Christian holiday.
In that respect, one could say that Halloween is the more honest of the four holidays. But, though Halloween may not mock God by pretending to honor Him on the one hand, while paying homage to a pagan deity on the other, Halloween is still the most evil of all holidays, because the principle theme of Halloween is evil. A quick check of the Halloween costumes at your local Wal-Mart would quickly bear this out. Sure, one will find costumes of princes and princesses, super heroes, and cartoon characters; but they will be far outnumbered by monsters, vampires, witches, skeletons, ghosts, and zombies.
Now, it would be bad enough if only adults would be guilty of wearing these evil costumes; but the sad reality is the vast majority of the vampires, witches, skeletons, ghosts, ghouls, and zombies walking the streets on Halloween night will in fact be children, most of whom don’t know any better. And their parents will be responsible for purchasing their costumes and allowing them to dress this way! It is said that a nation’s treatment of and attitude towards its children is the best gauge of the moral condition of that nation. That America’s parents allow their children to go out at night dressed up as monsters and other evil creatures and go house to house accepting candy from mostly strangers is proof that, it’s pretense to being a caring and nurturing nation notwithstanding, America actually hates its children.
Think about it: if a total stranger walked up to your son or daughter and offered him or her some candy, or if a total stranger invited your child to come to his or her house to get some candy, you would freak out! Yet, you have no problem sending your child to a neighbor’s house to get some candy that you didn’t purchase. Does that make any sense?
And Americans don’t just celebrate evil by dressing up in wicked costumes; they also celebrate death. Starting as early as September, Americans begin transforming their homes into virtual crime scenes: littering their lawns with dismembered corpses, buckets of blood, knives, and crime scene tape as they enact famous murders such as the Manson slayings, or scenes from their favorite horror movies like “Freddy’s Nightmares,” “Carrie,” and “Scream!” Others turn their own homes—the place where their family is supposed to feel warm and secure—into haunted houses, funeral parlors, and cemeteries. And well-meaning parents all over America will place a grinning, snaggle-toothed pumpkin on their front porch, as ignorant of the origin of this tradition as they are of the true origin of Halloween.
You may find it interesting to know that Halloween is said to be the most important holiday on the Witchcraft calendar. Witches call it Samhain, and it is a most sacred holiday for them. For this reason, it was called Hallowed (Sacred) Evening or, in the Old English, Hallowed E’en, which was later shortened to Halloween. What I find most chilling about Halloween is that, on this night, witches are said to perform a blood sacrifice. That means that on Halloween, witches everywhere will kill a human being in order to consume his or her blood to gain power. According to John Todd, a witch who supposedly converted to Christianity, the blood sacrifice ritual is known in Witchcraft as the “Warrior on the Block” rite, and is performed by all high-level witches. You may also find it interesting to learn that the highly-regarded Masonic scholar, Manly P. Hall, himself a 33rd degree Freemason, wrote:
“When the Mason learns that the Warrior on the Block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the mystery of his craft. The seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands…”
The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, p. 47
In light of what you have just learned, it doesn’t take a genius to know that the “dynamo of living power” is human blood. Witches, therefore, when performing a blood sacrifice on Halloween, are doing so in to gain power from Satan. (This is interesting, because witches claim that Satan doesn’t exist.) So, while you are busy playing evil on Halloween, witches will be busy doing evil; and while you are busy spilling fake blood, witches will be busy spilling real blood.
Do you have any idea where the tradition of dressing up in frightening costumes comes from? It comes from the medieval belief that on Halloween night, the spirits of the dead and evil spirits roamed the streets in search of the living. On this night, people locked themselves in their houses and did not venture forth unless it was absolutely necessary. Those who of necessity had to go outdoors would dress up like a dead person or an evil spirit so that the dead and evil spirits would believe the person was one of them. The custom of placing a pumpkin on one’s front porch also came from medieval Europe. On Halloween night, the dreaded witchcraft order known as the Druids are said to have gone in procession from house to house demanding that families give them their virgin daughters to use in their blood sacrifice ritual. It is said that if a family gave their daughter up to the Druids, they were given a pumpkin to leave on their porch as a sign they had cooperated. If a family refused to relinquish their daughter, however, the master of the house was either driven mad or killed by demonic spirits. The term “Trick or Treat” derives from the custom of the Druids querying a family whether or not they had a virgin to give. If they wanted to give up their daughter, then the family responded with “treat,” and relinquished their daughter. If the family had no virgin daughter to offer, then they had to perform some trick to appease the Druids. If the trick was deemed unsatisfactory, the master of the house would meet with the same fate as the master of the family who refused to give up their daughter.
Do you now see how evil Halloween really is?
That many Christians celebrate Halloween along with the world is just one more piece of evidence that the Great Apostasy is in full swing. Now, the Bible says that the whole world lieth in wickedness, so it is no strange thing that the unsaved would celebrate death and violence. But, those of us who name the name of Christ should in no wise take part in the Halloween festivities. The Bible says Christians should do everything in the name of Jesus. Is it proper for us to celebrate evil and death in the name of Jesus, who is Life?
And think of this: when we celebrate death, we actually celebrate Satan, who has the power of death. The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus, through His death, destroyed Satan:
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He [Jesus] also Himself took part of the same, that through death, He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Why, then, would Christians honor Satan, the Destroyer, by celebrating death, fear and bondage, when the Lord Jesus gave His life to free us from death, fear and bondage?
This brings me to another point I wanted to make. In that Blacks are the descendants of slaves, a people who were all their lives subject to bondage, why on earth would Blacks celebrate evil by celebrating Halloween, a holiday that celebrates bondage? If you have a problem understanding why Blacks should not celebrate Halloween, consider slavery, America’s greatest evil. It was the fear of death that kept the African slaves in bondage. If the slaves had chosen death over slavery, there would have been no slave institution in America. True, every tree in the South would have had a slave hanging from it, but slavery as an institution would have collapsed overnight. Fear, then, kept slavery alive. Fear truly is bondage. Now, no one in their right mind would celebrate slavery. Why, then, do Blacks celebrate fear, which is slavery, by celebrating Halloween?
For blacks to celebrate Halloween is really a slap in the face of all those brave souls who labored and died to free the slaves from bondage. and, for the descendants of those slaves to celebrate bondage is actually a slap in the face of those African slaves. Yet, Halloween is as popular in the black community as in the rest of America. How can this be?
Sadly, many Christians don’t believe Halloween is an evil holiday, and merely suggest that Christians find another way to celebrate it. Those who make this claim are either completely ignorant of its satanic origin (which is not surprising given the state of the Church), or are totally aware of what Halloween is and are trying to influence the body of Christ to merely accept it and to not denounce this demonic holiday for what it really is–evil. Either way, that more Christians do not speak out against Halloween and even celebrate it along with the world is the greatest proof that America’s moral condition is a lot worse than most of us would like to admit.
America’s love affair with Halloween is proof that America is no longer good. That is why America is no longer great.
TSM
Okay, God Really Did Give Us Ten Commandments.
Last week, I wrote you concerning the Ten Commandments, saying that God didn’t give us just Ten Commandments, but eleven. My original intent in writing the article was to provoke you to take into consideration all the commandments of God, and not just the Ten. This is because so much attention is paid to the Ten Commandments, that we forget the other Commandments, especially those found in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Many of those Commandments concern God’s prohibition against witchcraft and other evils that He truly hates–activities that have become so imbedded in the fabric of our society that most of us don’t even know that they are actually sins.
Cigarettes, for example, are actually a type of recreational drug, and recreational drugs are a form of witchcraft the Bible calls sorcery. Sorcery is forbidden in Deuteronomy 18. You have probably never heard this, but it is absolutely true. If all of God’s Commandments were considered important, especially by the Church, cigarette addiction would be treated the same as drug and alcohol addiction, which are sins.
While writing the article, my focus shifted to the fact that so much attention is paid to idolatry in the form of worshipping statues, that we forget that God’s very first commandment was to worship no other gods before Him–including people and things. Consequently, we, as a society, have set up many gods before the Lord Jesus. To rectify this, we should begin by focusing more on the first, and most important commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In so doing, not only would we be able to discern any false religion or doctrine on the landscape, but we would also be able to discern the false gods we set up in our own lives.
We should then take a look at the rest of the law; for we would quickly see that not only society as a whole, but even many of us in the Church are breaking many of God’s laws, and we are paying the price for it.
True, God gave us the Ten Commandments; but He didn’t stop there.
TSM
God Didn’t Give Us Ten Commandments
Grace and peace, Saints.
For years, I had wanted to teach my children the Ten Commandments. I know that we are under grace and not under the law, but I thought that if my children could understand how difficult it is to keep the law, then perhaps they would have a greater appreciation for grace and for the blood of the Lord Jesus.
I always thought that the best way for them to learn would be “by the numbers,” learning each commandment by the order it appears in Exodus Chapter 20 (i.e. Commandment 1: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me, Commandment 2: “Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven images, etc.), and had tried several times to make this happen. But every time we would start, I found myself unable to do it consistently, and would go weeks, months, and years without ding it. Eventually, we just left off doing it altogether.
This troubled me slightly because, though I do forget things from time to time, rarely do I forget to do something to the extent it never gets done—especially in matters of faith. At some point, I will get it done. Not so with the Ten Commandments; we never got around to learning them, and I could not understand why.
By the grace of God, However, today I learned what hindered me for almost a decade from learning the Ten Commandments and teaching them to my children: it was the Lord Jesus Himself. And the reason is simple: there are no Ten Commandments!
Turn with me, if you will, to Exodus Chapter 20, and let us discuss what we know as the Ten Commandments. Commandments. Only instead of considering each imperative as a separate commandment, as is commonly done, let us consider each contextual whole; for, in so doing you will see that there are not really ten commandments, but eleven.
First, it is generally accepted by Protestant theologians that verse 5 deals with idolatry:
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…”
But if we consider the passage contextually, then we will see that verses three, four and five all deal collectively with idolatry.
Verse two defines idolatry as worshipping any god other than the Lord God:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
While verses four and five expand the definition of idolatry to 1. making statues and images, and 2. worshipping statues and images.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…”
Verses 3-5, therefore contain three commandments rather than two:
1. Thou shalt not worship any gods besides God.
2. Thou shalt not make statues or anything else in the likeness of birds, humans, animals, or marine creatures.
3. Thou shalt not worship statues or anything else in the likeness of birds, humans, or marine creatures.
It continues:
4. “Thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord in vain (v. 7).
5. “Remember the Sabbath day (v. 8).
6. “Honor thy father and thy mother.” (v. 12).
7. “Thou shalt not kill (v. 13).
8. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (V. 14).
9. “Thou shalt not steal” (v. 15).
10. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (v. 16).
11. “Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor’s” (v. 17).
As you can clearly see, there are actually eleven commandments. And it was right there before your eyes all along. It’s true: the best place to hide something is right out in the open.
It is important to note that Protestant theologians have often pointed out that Roman Catholic Bibles omit Exodus 20:4 (Thou shalt make no graven images) and split Exodus 20:11 (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house), replacing verse 4 with the first part of verse 11 (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife), thus keeping the number of commandments at ten. But, as we have already seen, Exodus 20:2-11 actually contains eleven commandments, not just ten.
Right now, you’re probably asking yourself where the notion that there are only Ten Commandments came from? Well, I submit that Rome, the age-old enemy of The Word of God, is responsible; for statues; likenesses of things in heaven, things in earth, and things in the water under the earth; and false gods are in great abundance in the Roman Catholic Church, adorning the walls—inside and out—as well as the roof and grounds of every Roman Catholic edifice in the world, including the Vatican.
One oft-used tactic of Satan is to create a false argument that diverts our attention from what we should be looking at onto something that is really of little or no consequence. Concerning the “Ten Commandments,” By highlighting the prohibition against worshipping statues (Exodus 20:4-5) and making Mary worship the principle point of contention, Rome attempts to divert our attention from an even more egregious matter: the worship of false gods (Exodus 20:2). In the romish church, that false god is known as the Eucharist, the consecrated piece of bread Roman Catholics believe contains the body, blood, soul and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. This makes the Eucharist “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Besides this, the priest is another Jesus in the Roman Catholic Church. The priest, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, holds many of the powers attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ, including the power to forgive sins. That makes the priest too, “another Jesus.” Priests even hold the title of alter Christus–literally “another Jesus” in Latin.
One can see therefore, why the Roman Catholic Church would want to minimize the importance of the First Commandment by diverting our attention to Mary worship. From priests, to the Eucharist, to the Pope himself, the Virgin Mary is far from the only idol in the romish church. We would know this, if we, as Protestants, would do something Rome doesn’t want us to do: believe the Bible as it is written; and the Bible makes no mention at all of the Ten Commandments.
Since God will not allow the Roman Catholic Church to destroy the Word of God, it has settled for changing the way you and I understand the Word of God. Are you going to let them get away with that?
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
TSM
What Roman Catholics Really Believe: The Assumption
On August 15 Roman Catholics celebrate a holiday known as “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” or simply, The Assumption. A Practical Catholic Dictionary describes the Assumption as:
“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 soul. The Feast of the Assumption is August 15 and is a holyday 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.’ Apocalpse XII 1.'”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 29
You may note that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Virgin Mary was “free from original sin” and therefore not subject to death the way normal human beings are. This is the unbiblical dogma of the Immaculate Conception. This dogma is the strongest evidence that the Virgin Mary is not the biblical Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the Bible teaches that after Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus, she went to Jerusalem to make a sin offering:
“And when the days of her [Mary’s] purification were accomplished, they brought Him [Jesus] to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord…And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
Luke 2:22,24
“Law of the Lord” is referring to Deuteronomy Chapter 12, where God commands that after a woman gives birth, after the days of her purifying, she should go to the priest to make a sin offering as an atonement:
“And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her…”
Deuteronomy 12:6,8
If Mary, the mother of Jesus, were sinless, then there would have been no need for her to make a sin offering for an atonement, as she would not have needed to atone for any sins. Clearly, then, Mary, the mother of our Lord, was not without sin. The Roman Catholic Virgin Mary, therefore, being without sin, could not be the mother of Jesus Christ, but another Mary.
It is interesting that the Roman Catholic church claims that belief in the Assumption “goes back to early Christian days,” because the Bible, the oldest surviving record of the beliefs and practices of the early Christian Church, does not even mention the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus, let alone the Assumption.
That is not the only puzzlement with the doctrine of the Assumption. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared:
“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
When the Lord Jesus said, “No man,” He was using the inclusive masculine, which means “No man or woman.” The Lord also used the inclusive masculine in John 14:6 when He said, “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” The Lord had not yet been crucified, resurrected, or ascended, when He said this, so it is clear that He was speaking about eternity past and eternity future. Further proof of this is the fact that the Lord said that He was in heaven, though He was on earth when He made this statement. In other words, the Lord Jesus was saying that no one had or ever would descend from heaven or ascend into heaven, but He Himself.
If the doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is true, then the Lord Jesus Christ is a liar.
“Let God be true, but every man a liar.”
Romans 3:4
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
TSM
The Virgin Mary: The Androgynous Goddess?
Grace and peace, Saints.
For years, I wondered why statues and pictures portraying the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary often depict the goddess standing with one leg slightly bent in a peculiar fashion. If it were just one instance, perhaps I would not have paid much attention to it. But, because I have seen many such instances, and because the Roman Catholic religion is modern day Mystery Babylon, I knew there was some occult meaning to it, though I knew not what.
Even Roman Catholics have attempted to explain this obvious curiosity. One website discussing the image of Guadalupe says “Our Lady of Guadalupe is shown in a position of dancing prayer, with her knee bent in movement.” But this doesn’t explain the numerous other instances that can be found.
I pondered this over and over again for years, until one day I considered Boticelli’s famous painting, The Birth of Venus, which depicts the goddess standing in a seashell:
Birth of Venus, by Boticelli
Notice that the goddess stands with her knee bent and covering her private parts with her hair. The pagans have never been accused of being modest, as anyone who has been to Rome or to any art museum will tell you. So, that Boticelli depicted the goddess being both modest and immodest at the same time is really quite strange when you think about it. But one day I noticed that Venus’ hand is actually too low to be covering female genitalia. Knowing that nothing in the occult is pure happenstance, I meditated on this for months.
Then it hit me: Venus is really Semiramis, who goes by many different names, and for this reason was known as Myrianimus “The goddess of ten thousand names.” But, though Nimrod was not known by as many names as his famous wife, he, too, had not a few; and one of these names was Saturn, “The Hidden God.” Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons says this regarding Saturn:
“We have now only to inquire what was the name by which Nimrod was known as the god of the Chaldean Mysteries. That name…was Saturn. Saturn and Mystery are both Chaldean words, and they are correlative terms. As Mystery signifies the Hidden system, so Saturn signifies the Hidden god.”
The Two Babylons, p. 17
It is important to understand that when Nimrod was killed, Semiramis became the principle object of worship and was ultimately exalted above her husband/son. But the practitioners of the Mystery Religion continued to worship Nimrod and Semiramis simultaneously by creating an androgynous god, a goddess with male genitalia. In this manner, Semiramis would be worshipped ostensibly as the goddess, while Nimrod–Saturn, the Hidden God–would be worshipped occultly in the form of the male phallus, hidden beneath the goddess’ clothing, or, in the case of Venus, her hair.
In the Greek Mysteries, this androgynous god was known as Hermaphroditus, taken from the Greek hermaphroditos meaning a “person partaking of the attributes of both sexes.” As a proper name, Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who according to Ovid, was loved by the nymph Salmacis so ardently that she prayed for complete union with him. As a result they were united bodily, combining male and female characteristics.
Hermaphroditus is usually depicted with the face, breasts, and body characteristics of a woman, and the genitalia of a man. Note the position of the left leg in both of the following statues of Hermaphroditus. WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES FOLLOW!!!
Could it be merely a coincidence that in both of these status of Hermaphroditus the deity is standing with its leg bent in the same fashion as the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary?! Of these two statues, the most telling is the second, as it depicts Hermaphroditus holding the baby Eros, just like the Virgin Mary is often depicted holding the “Baby Jesus!!!”
Now, you may be tempted to write this off as merely a coincidence, but, as I have said many times before, if there are too many coincidences, then it is no coincidence.
If you are a Roman Catholic, I challenge you to give a better explanation for why so many images of the Virgin Mary, such as that of Guadalupe, depict the goddess standing in such a curious position (and you gotta do better than “prayer dancing”). If you cannot, then I suggest you carefully ponder today’s revelations and ask yourself why you worship or, if you will, revere the Virgin Mary, when, in reality, it is Semiramis, the wife of the great rebel Nimrod, that you are worshipping.
The Bible calls Semiramis the Virgin Queen of Babylon, the Lady of Kingdoms, and the Abomination of Desolation. If you really love the Lord Jesus Christ, then leave off worshipping this statue, for it is idolatry, and God hates idolatry!
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
A Righteous Thing
Grace and peace, Saints.
Many of you are familiar with my testimony of persecution, which includes gang stalking and other forms of harassment. As I relate in God is in Control and other posts, sleep deprivation has been a major part of this harassment. This diabolical form of harassment has come in many different forms, and it is almost always perpetrated by my neighbors.
Now, imagine my reaction when I saw the above headline about a month or so ago on a newspaper vending machine near my apartment in Munich. The headline reads: “New Nightmare Study: Five Million Bavarians Have Insomnia.” The article goes on to share these alarming statistics:
- In 2017, only 22 percent of Bavarians say they sleep well, compared to 50 percent in 2010.
- Since 2005, the number of workdays missed because of insomnia has risen to 77 percent!
- Those who say they take sleep medication has risen from 13.5 to 17.3 percent.
The article goes on to say that insomnia is a major cause of many ailments such as depression and heart complications. It just so happens that depression is a major problem in Munich, evidenced by the fact that the number of psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists has increased dramatically over the last decade.
Now, if you are a Christian who is being persecuted like me, then you should be encouraged by this bit of news, because it proves you are doing something right. It also proves that God really does look out for His people. In his second epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul encourages this persecuted church by telling them that their suffering is proof that they are doing well in the sight of God:
“We ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure:
“Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
Paul then goes on to assure the Thessalonians that God will exact vengeance of those who persecute them with the exact same persecution:
“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.” (2 Thessalonians 1:4-6)
Recompense means “to pay in kind”: in other words, to do to someone exactly what they have done to you, whether it be good or bad. So, God will do to our enemies exactly what they do to us, exactly how they do it to us, and exactly as often as they do it to us. This is important, because God has commanded us not to recompense evil for evil. We are never to do to our enemies what they do to us, because God says that that is His job. He will avenge us. God wants us to keep our hands clean and our consciences spotless that we will be “harmless, blameless, the sons of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.”
You may be interested to know that the population of Bavaria, according to the 2011 census, is around 12.4 million. Since 1.6 million of those 12.4 million Bavarians live in Munich, then almost half of Bavaria suffers from insomnia and almost all of Munich suffers from insomnia. And note that this problem has been noted since 2005. Is it merely a coincidence that I got saved and starting evangelizing in Munich in 2005?
Now, you may be inclined to believe that this huge problem of insomnia in Munich and Bavaria and the sleep deprivation campaign waged against me are merely coincidental. But I’m here to tell you that God is not a God of coincidence. God is a God of purpose. And we know that “all things work together for good to those that love God; to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
TSM
To Everything There Is A Season
As one reader noted a few weeks ago (thank you, Ms. G), I haven’t posted anything since April. That is because, for about a month or so, I have been in transition.
After living in Germany for over twenty years, I have relocated to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. I learned an awful lot about myself and the world during my stay in Munich, and I can say without any reservation that, if it were not for my time there, I would not be the person I am today. After all, it was in Munich that I found the Lord Jesus Christ!
Of course, as with any life change, this move was not without its challenges; and I had to make some great sacrifices. But I am assured that the Lord Jesus is with me and that I have His blessing. I can tell you that during this move, He has already done some great and marvelous things–things that even amazed my children! I would also like to publicly thank my sister, Denise, for helping make this move possible.
Please pray for me, Saints. St. Louis is known as the “Rome of the West.” Roman Catholics outnumber Protestants in this city probably 99 to 1, with Muslims bringing up the rear. With a ministry like mine, my children and I will have to endure much. I therefore covet your prayers for me and my family. In particular, please pray that my children will make a good transition and that I will be patient with them and receptive to their needs. Also pray that the love of Jesus will abound in my heart and that my ministry to the Roman Catholic people will bear fruit.
May the will of God be done.
Your servant,
Tony
I Choose To Forgive
Grace and peace, Saints
This is part of my testimony and will give you an idea of the circumstances that characterize my ministry, and why I do what I do. Please listen with an open mind.
The Still Man
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541 H Street
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Mary Surrat’s boarding house as it appeared in 1890.
541 H Street was the boarding house of Mary Surrat, one of the chief conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It was also the place where John Wilkes Booth, the man who shot Lincoln; and John Surrat, Ms. Surrat’s son, frequently met with the other conspirators in the assassination plot. Mary Surrat was later tried, convicted, and hung for her role in Lincoln’s assassination. Nearly all of the conspirators, including Mary Surrat, were fervent Roman Catholics. (Rome’s Responsibility for the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, p. 53.)
Grace and peace, Saints.
Today marks the 152nd anniversary of the assassination of America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln. I had planned to write an article and do a podcast commemorating this event, as I have done the past couple of years, but, regretfully, events conspired to prevent me from doing so. For your edification, education, and encouragement, however, I pray that you will listen to the podcast I did commemorating this occasion of our great martyred President back in 2015. God bless you.
The Still Man
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Beast Watch: Pope Francis Once Again Admits That The Roman Catholic Church is Mystery Babylon
“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.”
Revelation 17:4
Grace and peace, Saints.
Many of you may be aware that last October, Pope Francis went on an ecumenical journey to Sweden. During an in-flight press conference held aboard the papal jet, the pontiff fielded a variety of questions covering subjects from ecumenism to secularization. Responding to a question from a Swedish journalist regarding the possibility of women being allowed in the Catholic priesthood, Pope Francis made a cryptic, yet very revealing statement wherein he once again admitted that the Roman Catholic religion is, in fact, Mystery Babylon, the worship of Nimrod and Semiramis.
Click here for the full text of the press conference.
Following is the complete dialogue:
Journalist: “Good morning. The Sweden that hosted this important ecumenical encounter has a woman as head of it’s own Church. What do you think: is it realistic to think of women priests also in the Catholic Church in the coming decades? And if not, why are Catholic priests afraid of competition?”
Pope Francis: “Reading the history a bit in the area where we were, I saw that there was a queen who was widowed three times. And I said: but, this woman is strong, and they told me: Swedish women are very strong, very good. And because of this some Swedish man looks for a woman from another nationality…I don’t know if it’s true, but…on the ordination of women in the Catholic Church, the final word is clear, it was said by St. John Paul II and this remains. On competition, I don’t know…”
Journalist: “Never ever?”
Pope Francis: “If we read well the declaration made by St. John Paul II, it goes along this line, yes…But women can do so many things better than men, even in the dogmatic field. To clarify (to perhaps give some clarity, not to say only a reference to a document):
INTERJECTION. Now pay close attention, as the Pope reveals the true nature of Roman Catholicism: that rather than Christianity, Catholicism is really Mystery Babylon, the worship of Nimrod and Semiramis. The greatest emphasis, however, is on Semiramis.
Pope Francis: “In Catholic ecclesiology there are two dimensions to think about: the Petrine dimension (which is from the Apostle Peter and the Apostolic College, which is the pastoral activity of the bishops), as well as the Marian dimension (which is the feminine dimension of the Church); and this I have said more than [once]. I ask myself: who is most important in theology and in the mystic of the Church: the apostles or Mary on the day of Pentecost? It’s Mary! The Church is a woman! It’s “la Chiesa” (in Italian), not “il Chiesa.” It’s “la Chiesa”; and the Church is the spouse of Christ. It’s a spousal mystery.
“And in light of this mystery you will understand the reason for these two dimensions: the Petrine dimension, which is the bishops, and the Marian dimension, which is the maternity of the Church, but in the most profound sense. A Church doesn’t exist without this feminine dimension, because she herself is feminine.” [Boldface and brackets mine.]
If you have ears to hear, then you know that Pope Francis has made some extremely revealing admissions here.
First, it is important to first understand that if the Roman Catholic Church were truly the Bride of Christ, then there would be no mystery, as the bride and groom would already be identified. That there remains a “spousal mystery” is the first clue that the Roman Catholic Church is not the Bride of Christ and Jesus Christ is not the groom of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Pope’s emphasis on the Petrine and Marian dimensions being peculiar to Roman Catholicism is also very important. In biblical Christianity, there are no Petrine or Marian hemispheres, as “Christ is all and in all” (Colossians 3:11). If there were two dimensions to biblical Christianity, then they would have to be the Mosaic Dimension, which is salvation by works, and the Christian Dimension, which is salvation through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ:
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17)).
Regarding the Church, there is no spousal mystery. Jesus is the groom and the Church is his bride. There are two great mysteries in the Bible:
- the mystery of godliness.
- the mystery of iniquity.
The mystery of godliness, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, has already been revealed through Scripture and is therefore no longer a mystery:
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).
The mystery to which Pope Francis alludes, therefore, can only be the Mystery of Iniquity, which just happens to be a spousal mystery. The Bible calls this mystery Mystery Babylon:
“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus…” (Revelation 17:5).
When Pope Francis calls Catholicism a “spousal mystery,” he is admitting that Roman Catholicism is Mystery Babylon, which is the worship of Nimrod and Semiramis. The Petrine and Marian dimensions of Catholic theology are therefore emblematic of the deified couple: St. Peter is a symbol for Nimrod, and the Virgin Mary is a symbol for Semiramis.
It is important to understand that Pope Francis’ use of the words mystery and mystic is a signal that he is speaking in occult or symbolic language. Mystery Babylon uses symbols to conceal the fact that its principle objects of worship are Nimrod and Semiramis. There are two types of symbols: esoteric and exoteric. An esoteric symbol is closer to the truth, while an exoteric symbol is farther from the truth. The Pope has already provided us with the two esoteric symbols for Nimrod and Semiramis in the Petrine and Marian dimensions of Catholic ecclesiology. Any cryptic references the Pope makes to people or things are merely symbolic references to the deified couple.
When the Pope therefore says “in light of this mystery you will understand….the two dimensions,” what he is really saying is that once you understand that Roman Catholicism is Mystery Babylon, then you will know that everything in Roman Catholicism—from the dead Jesus, to the cross, to the Virgin Mary, to the seven sacraments—is symbolic of Nimrod and Semiramis, and you will have the key to deciphering all his cryptic references, including and especially his reference to the Roman Catholic Church being a “spousal mystery.”
Pope Francis said that he has mentioned the feminine aspect of the Roman Catholic Church in the past, and one such incident may be a homily he gave in 2013, wherein he described the Catholic Church as “a widow in search of her spouse”: an obvious reference to the Egyptian legend of Isis and Osiris.
Pope Francis’ remarks also prove that the Virgin Mary is not the biblical Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Roman Catholic Church claims its popes are the spiritual descendants of the Apostles. Yet, the Pope claims that the Virgin Mary is the most important person in Catholic theology. The problem with this statement is that according to the Bible, Jesus’ mother Mary was present with the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord Jesus, in the days from our Lord’s crucifixion up to Pentecost, but she played no major role. Peter was the one who was prominent:
“These [the Apostles] all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples…” (Acts 1:14).
In fact, the Bible records that on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter preached a sermon that resulted in three thousand people being converted:
“And when the day of Pentecost was come…Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem…hearken unto my words…” (Acts 2:14).
Peter then went on to preach Jesus to the crowd, ending with:
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).
What was the result of Peter’s preaching?
“Then they gladly received his word and were baptized: and that same day were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).
Jesus’ mother Mary is not even mentioned in connection with Pentecost, yet Pope Francis claims that Mary was the most important person on that day!
Why is all this important? You may ask. I’ll tell you. The Roman Catholic Church bills itself as the “mother of all churches,” and claims that it’s popes are the spiritual descendants of the Apostles and that the Apostle Peter was the first pope. This, they believe, gives the Catholic Church the divine right to rule all other churches, including the true Christian Church, and makes the Pope the spiritual head of all churches, including the Christian Church. But, by Pope Francis’ own words, Mary is the most important person in Catholic theology, even more important than the Apostle Peter. If I were a sincere Roman Catholic, I would find this problematic, because, in case you hadn’t noticed, the Virgin Mary is a statue.
Why does the Catholic Church exalt the Virgin Mary above the Apostle Peter, if they consider Peter the first pope? Because, by Pope Francis’ own words, the Catholic Church could not exist without the Virgin Mary. Pope Francis tells us:
“[T]he Marian dimension…is the maternity of the Church, but in the most profound sense. A Church doesn’t exist without this feminine dimension, because she herself is feminine.”
Here, the Pope is again using symbolic language. If you interpret “Marian dimension” as the Virgin Mary and “most profound” as esoteric, then you will understand that Pope Francis is telling us that the Catholic Church could not exist without the Virgin Mary because, in it’s most profound (read: esoteric) sense, the Virgin Mary is Semiramis.
The Pope is saying that the Marian (Semiramis) dimension is more important than the Petrine (Nimrod) dimension, because the Church is Semiramis and Semiramis is the Church. This is why the Roman Catholic Church calls itself “Mother Church.” The Catholic Church is Semiramis, who was worshipped as Cebele, the Goddess Mother and wife of Nimrod. The preeminence of Semiramis over Nimrod is depicted in the Egyptian Mysteries of Isis and Osiris, where we read that “Osiris or Horus, is the doctrine, while Isis is the Church.”
Only when one considers Roman Catholicism from the perspective of the ancient mysteries and understands that the Roman Catholic St. Peter and the Virgin Mary are really esoteric symbols for Nimrod and Semiramis, can one understand why the Catholic Church claims their popes are descended from St. Peter and the Apostles, when the popes are not and have never been anything like the Apostle Peter and the Apostles. The Roman Catholic popes are really reincarnations of Nimrod, while the Virgin Mary is really Semiramis.
Pope Francis once again proves that Roman Catholicism is not Christianity, but “Mystery Babylon The Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (Revelation 17:5).
“He who hath an ear, let him hear.”
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
What Roman Catholics Really Believe: Are Jews and Muslims Christians?
Grace and peace, Saints.
In our last article, we discussed the fact that the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Movement is gaining momentum with every passing day. In the article, we showed you an advertisement for a concert here in Munich featuring a symbol composed of a cross, a six-pointed star, and a crescent moon. The symbol, as well as the music, was dedicated to “The One God.”
In the article, we explained that contrary to popular belief, the cross is not the symbol for Bible-based Christianity, but for Roman Catholicism, as the cross was used by Constantine The Great, founder of the Roman Catholic Church, as a symbol for the pagan sun god, which Constantine worshipped as Sol Invictus. The six-pointed star, the so-called Star of David, is widely regarded as the symbol for Judaism, but the Bible states that those Jews who fell into apostasy used a star to represent Nimrod, whom they worshipped as Moloch and Rempham; and Semiramis, whom they worshipped as Chiun (See Amos 5:26 and Acts 7:43). The crescent moon has come to be known as the primary symbol for Islam, but the crescent moon (as well as the full moon) is also a symbol for many goddesses, including the Egyptian Isis, the Phoenician goddess Ashtoreth, the Roman goddess Diana, The goddess Diana of the Ephesians (Turkey), and the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary.
We further explained that Mystery Babylon, as the worship of Nimrod and Semiramis is known in the Bible (Revelation 17:5), uses symbols to represent the deified couple, and that among these symbols are the cross, star, and moon. The Bible calls Mystery Bible the “mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” Roman Catholicism uses all three symbols: the cross, the moon, and the six-pointed star, and bills itself the “mother of all churches.”
By these associations we hoped to illustrate that Roman Catholicism is in fact, Mystery Babylon, and the symbol formed by the amalgamation of the symbols for Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism is proof positive that the three religions are united in their worship of the One God, which is none other than The Image of the Beast (Revelation 13): the goddess Semiramis, which the Bible calls The Abomination of Desolation.
Today I will provide proof that this is not conjecture. A Practical Catholic Dictionary gives this definition of “The Heathen”:
“Those who are not Christians, Jews, or Mohammedans [Muslims]. Under Christians are included both Catholics and non-Catholics. Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans worship the One God and so cannot be called heathen.” [Brackets and boldface mine]
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 109.
Here is the original:
Can you believe that? The Roman Catholic Church considers Muslims and Jews Christians! Because Roman Catholics don’t consider Bible-believing Christians to be Christians, but calls us Protestants and heretics, then what Rome is really saying is that Muslims and Jews are also Roman Catholics! I’m not surprised by this, as I have been saying this for years, and even wrote about it in articles such as House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus and The Roman Catholic Church, Zionism, Stars, and Seashells. But this time, it’s not me saying it: Rome is saying it herself.
The problem, of course, is that neither Muslims nor Jews worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who Roman Catholics claim to worship. If Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism worship the One God–whom Catholics claim is Jesus–yet Muslims and Jews do not worship the Lord Jesus–who Catholics claim to worship–then, for Catholics, Muslims, and Jews to have One God in common, it could only mean that the One God of Roman Catholicism is not the Lord Jesus Christ. Who then, is the One God? Answer: the only “god” that Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism have in common: Semiramis, known in Catholicism as the Virgin Mary, in Islam as Mother Mary, and in Judaism as Miriam. It is no coincidence, therefore, that Roman Catholics and Muslims share a joint shrine at Ephesus, Turkey; and that the Dome of the Rock, Islam’s second holiest shrine, stands where the Jewish temple once stood.
The One God of Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism is The Woman, Semiramis, who was worshipped in Mesopotamia as Ishtar “The Woman,” in Rome as Domina or Despoina “The Lady” (The Two Babylons, p. 103), and mentioned in the Bible as the “Virgin Queen of Babylon” (Isaiah 47:1), the “Lady of Kingdoms” (Isaiah 47:5), and the “Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 44:17-19). Could it be merely a coincidence that the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary is known in every country in the world as Our Lady and the Queen of Heaven? If there are too many coincidences, there are no coincidences.
If you are a Bible-believing Christian, you should be very encouraged to know that as terrible as all this sounds, it is actually a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, as the Bible tells us that “all the world shall worship him [the Pope]” (Revelation 13:8). Before the Lord Jesus opened my eyes, I used to wonder how Muslims, known for their fanatical devotion to Allah and the Prophet Muhammad; or the Jews, who pride themselves as being the chosen of God and the children of Abraham, would ever rally around the Pope. I don’t wonder anymore. The Virgin Mary, the “One God,” is the key.
The One World Church is not coming; it’s already here.
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
And The Ecumenical Movement Keeps Rolling Along
Grace and peace, Saints.
The move towards a one world church seems to be picking up steam, as can be clearly seen in advertisements I’ve been seeing around Munich.
This is an advertisement for a concert featuring music from “Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.” The Christianity referred to in this advertisement is not Bible-based Christianity, as true Christians would never fellowship in a religious capacity with Muslims and Jews, as both Islam and Judaism reject Jesus as the Savior of the world. Islam both rejects the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, claiming that “Allah had no son,” and denies His deity by reducing Him to a minor prophet. Judaism also rejects the Lord Jesus by refusing to acknowledge the New Testament, and denies His deity by rejecting Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. For Christians to fellowship in a religious capacity with Jews and Muslims, therefore, is to be “unequally yoked” (2 Corinthians 14:6).
The cross, then, must represent Roman Catholicism, a pagan religion that also rejects Jesus, though it pays Him lip service. Catholicism claims to be Christian, but, in reality, it worships “another Jesus” (a dead Jesus still nailed to a cross), and has “another spirit and another gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4). Since Pope John Paul II, Roman Catholicism has attempted to unite with Islam and Judaism through the Ecumenical Movement.
In order for Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam to worship “The One God,” then all three religions would have to have this one god in common.
But, how is this possible, when all three religions worship different gods? My premise is that Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam do all worship the same god, but that god is not the God of the Bible, whose name is Jesus Christ. The One God which Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam all have in common is the goddess, Semiramis. This can be proved by examining the symbols in the advertisement.
Let us begin with the symbol of the cross with the tree wrapped around it. Suspended from a branch of the tree is an apple with a bite taken out of it. This is an obvious reference to the sin of Adam and Eve. The Bible tells us that Eve, the first woman, was deceived by Satan into eating the fruit which God had forbidden her and her husband to eat. The Roman Catholic Church has long taught that the forbidden fruit was an apple, though the Bible doesn’t specify what the fruit was. The apple is therefore an exoteric symbol for Eve, The Woman. The fact that the tree is wrapped around the cross and not the other symbols is a sign that the apple and the cross are meant to be symbolically interpreted together. And this we shall do.
Now, the cross is thought by many to be the symbol for Christianity, but the Holy Bible never mentions the early Christian Church symbolizing their faith with a cross. In point of fact, the cross is historically a symbol for the Sun God, Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14). The Roman Emperor Constantine The Great worshipped Tammuz as Sol Invictus (The Unconquerable Sun), which he symbolized with an equal-armed cross. The Romans used crucifixion both as a means of execution and as a way to sacrifice victims to Tammuz. Emperor Constantine founded the Roman Catholic Church in 330 A.D., when he issued the Edict of Milan, a decree of tolerance towards Christians. Constantine then announced that he had become a Christian and declared Christianity as the state religion. But Constantine’s version of Christianity was actually an unholy mixture of the pagan worship of Tammuz with a smidgen of Christianity thrown in for good measure. Because the cross is a symbol for Tammuz or Nimrod, then the apple, rather than a symbol for Eve, is really a symbol for Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod. Semiramis was also known as the The Lady (Isaiah 47:5).
The crescent moon symbol has come to be associated with Islam, but you may find it interesting that it is also used for the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary.
In fact, the Virgin Mary is often associated with the moon.
The six-pointed star is usually associated with modern Judaism, but it is also found in the Holy Bible as the symbol of a pagan god and goddess:
“But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.”
Amos 5:26
“Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god, Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them.”
Acts 7:43
The Roman Catholic Church also uses the six-pointed star as a symbol for the Virgin Mary, which they call the Star of the Sea.
Lastly, note that the cross and the six-pointed star are interlaced and surmounted by a half moon, effectively forming a new symbol. Since the purpose of this union is to glorify “The One God,” then this symbol, rather than representing three separate religions, actually symbolizes one single religion, which incorporates Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. The problem, however, is that Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam do not worship the same god; or do they?
Islam has the moon and the star, but the cross is not found. Modern Judaism has the star, but the moon and the cross are not (normally) found. Only Roman Catholicism uses the moon, the star, and the cross. I submit therefore, that the religion symbolized by the amalgamation of the moon, the cross, and the star is Roman Catholicism, which worships a goddess known as the Virgin Mary, and calls itself the “mother of all churches.” The worship of the goddess is known as Mystery Babylon, which the Bible calls the “mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (Revelation 17:5).
The “One God” then, that this concert seeks to glorify is actually the One Goddess, Semiramis, known in Catholicism as the Virgin Mary, in Islam as Mother Mary, and in Judaism as Mother Mary and Miriam (in Kabbalistic Judaism, God the Mother). The Bible, however, calls this idol the Abomination of Desolation.
There are two symbols I almost forgot to include, which also happen to be symbols for the Virgin Mary. The first is the dove at the upper left. The Roman Catholic Church claims the dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit, but the dove is also a symbol of Semiramis, who was also known as Columbia or The Dove. Notice also the flowers on the right side of the symbol. I’m no florist, but they appear to be roses and possibly carnations. The Catholic Church uses both as symbols for the Virgin Mary.
Let us take a look at yet another advertisement.
The caption above “We Are The World” says “An Inclusive Gospel Choir,” and below the globe is stated, “A Community project of people with and without handicaps and asylum-seekers.” While a Gospel choir that includes the handicapped is a good idea, as the Gospel is for them too, you must understand that this event is taking place in Munich, a very Roman Catholic city in the very very Roman Catholic state of Bavaria, Germany. This choir, therefore, is most likely composed primarily of Roman Catholics (further proof of this is the fact that the event is taking place in a Catholic church). For those of you who didn’t know, the Jesus of Catholicism is not the Jesus of the Bible, most evident by the fact that the Jesus of Catholicism is still hanging on a cross. Catholicism, therefore, has “another Jesus, another spirit and another gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4).
Note also that besides the handicapped, this choir includes asylum seekers. Having lived in Munich for almost twenty years, I can tell you that, arguably, the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers here are Muslims. In that true gospel music glorifies Jesus Christ, and Muslims do not glorify the Lord Jesus, then the music that this choir sings cannot be the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but, again, “another gospel.” If this choir does not glorify Jesus Christ, then, what is its purpose? Answer: to promote an “inclusive”: that is, ecumenical, gospel: the gospel of the One World Church.
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
What Roman Catholics Really Believe: Penance Denies The Atonement
Grace and peace, Saints.
Today is Day Seven of the Forty-Day Roman Catholic celebration of Lent, and, as promised, we continue with our essay “What Is Lent?”
According to A Practical Catholic Dictionary, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, ushers in the Lenten celebration “in the spirit of penance.” Penance, according to the Dictionary, is “good works” required by the priest to whom the faithful Roman Catholic confesses his sins. The purpose of Lent, therefore, is for the Roman Catholic to do good works as part of his Catholic contract to redeem himself from sin.
If you believe it a stretch to say that the Roman Catholic is trying to redeem himself from sin through good works, consider that the Bible says that “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7), and “we have redemption through His [Jesus’] blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). The Bible also tells us that after Jesus made “one sacrifice forever” he sat down on the right hand of God the Father (Hebrews 10:12). The Bible’s mention of Jesus sitting down is symbolic of the fact that there was no more work to be done. Jesus’ death and the shedding of His blood fully atoned for our sins. “It is finished,” Jesus said.
You may find it interesting that the word Atonement cannot be found in A Practical Catholic Dictionary. There is a simple reason for this: Roman Catholicism does not recognize the Atonement. If you think this is again a stretch, consider that the Roman Catholic Jesus is still hanging on the cross. Understand that by leaving Jesus on the cross, Catholicism says that Jesus’ sacrifice is not yet complete. He is still making sacrifice for sin. “It is not finished,” Catholicism says. Catholicism does not believe that Jesus hung on the cross; Catholicism believes Jesus is still hanging on the cross. If you think this is yet another stretch, consider this Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary, attributed to Pope Pius XII: Click here for source of prayer.
O kind and good Mother,
whose own soul was pierced by the sword of sorrow,
look upon us while,
in our sickness,
we arraign ourselves beside you
on the Calvary where your Jesus hangs.
Dowered with the high grace of suffering,
and hopeful of fulfilling in our own flesh
what is wanting in our sharing of Christ’s passion,
on behalf of his Mystical Body, the Church,
we consecrate to you ourselves and our pain.
We pray that you will lay them
on that Altar of the Cross to which Jesus is affixed.
May they be little victims of propitiation for our salvation,
for the salvation of all peoples.
O Mother of Sorrows,
accept this consecration.
Strengthen our hopeful hearts,
that as partakers of Christ’s sufferings
we may also share in his comfort now and for evermore.
Amen.
Note that the prayer says, “Calvary, where your Jesus HANGS” instead of “HUNG”; and “the Cross to which Jesus IS affixed,” instead of “WAS affixed.” Roman Catholicism believes Jesus is still hanging on a lonely cross at Calvary.
But, why do they do this? You may ask. It’s simple: if Jesus’ sacrifice is not complete, and he is still hanging on the cross, then the Roman Catholic has to complete the act of atonement through his own effort. “Where?” you may ask, did you get that?” Well, consider that A Practical Catholic Dictionary says that Jesus, “by His suffering and death, made infinite satisfaction for the sins of men.” It doesn’t say that the blood of Jesus atoned for sins. To make atonement is to satisfy completely. To use the word atonement would be to say that the work of redemption is over. But, by merely saying that Jesus’ sacrifice made “infinite (never-ending, eternal) partial satisfaction,” and leaving Jesus on the cross, the Roman Catholic Church implies that the work of redemption has not been completed. And, by requiring Roman Catholics to make partial satisfaction for sins through penance, the Roman Catholic Church says that Jesus’ death on the cross and the shedding of his blood wasn’t good enough. The Roman Catholic must do something himself to complete the work of redemption.
It is important at this point to mention that the Roman Catholic Council of Trent curses anyone who believes that justification comes through faith in the blood of Jesus alone and that one needn’t expend any effort on his own.
Proof that the Roman Catholic believes he must redeem himself can be found in the above prayer. Note that the prayer asks that the body of the Roman Catholic, along with his suffering, be accepted as “little victims of propitiation for our salvation.” Propitiation literally means satisfaction. Colossians 1:14 and Romans 3:25 say that Jesus Christ was our propitiation, meaning His death and the shedding of His blood satisfied both our sin debt and God’s wrath. His death paid the penalty for sins, according to Romans 5:23, which says, “The wages of sin is death”; and the shedding of His blood washed away our sins according to Hebrews 9:22, which says “without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
This is the reason Roman Catholicism teaches that Jesus’ suffering, made “infinite” satisfaction for sins, rather than that His death and the shedding of His blood made atonement for the sins of mankind. It enables the romish church to teach that, through suffering, which may include flagellating himself with a whip, putting sharp instruments in his shoes to inflict pain, or kneeling in prayer upon some instrument designed to inflict pain, the Roman Catholic seeks to become a “little victim of propitiation” (sacrifice) to the end that he might save himself.
The final proof (at least for today) that suffering through penance is one way the Roman Catholic hopes to make atonement for his sins can again be found in Pope Pius XII’s poem. The second stanza says,
Dowered with the high grace of suffering,
and hopeful of fulfilling in our own flesh
what is wanting in our sharing of Christ’s passion,
on behalf of his Mystical Body, the Church,
we consecrate to you ourselves and our pain.
Notice that the poem calls suffering “the high grace.” This is a reference to the Sacrament of Penance, one of the seven “channels of grace” by which the Roman Catholic hopes to earn the right to go to heaven. Note also that, through suffering, the Roman Catholic is “hopeful of fulfilling in [his] own flesh what is wanting [lacking] in [his] sharing of Christ’s passion.” If you consider that Catholicism teaches that it was through Jesus’ suffering that he made “infinite satisfaction” for sins, then “fulfilling in [his] own flesh” means that the Roman Catholic, through penance, hopes to fulfill, through his own personal suffering, the unfinished work of atonement. This prayer is talking about penance.
If the Roman Catholic must partially satisfy his sins through penance, then the work of Jesus on the cross was a failure. This is, by the way, exactly what Pope Francis said:
“Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakes of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
What Roman Catholics Really Believe: Can the Virgin Mary Save You?
Grace and peace, Saints.
Bible-believing Protestant Christians are aware that the Roman Catholic Church exalts the Virgin Mary into the place of the Lord Jesus Christ and even above Him. One way they do this is by calling the Virgin Mary the Mediatrix (contrary to 1 Timothy 2:5), and by calling the Virgin Mary co-Redeemer with the Lord Jesus (contrary to Colossians 1:14, Romans 3:25, Revelation 5:9). They also do this by giving the Virgin Mary titles which belong only to Jesus Christ, such as Guadalupe, which means The Virgin Who Crushed The Serpent (an obvious reference to Genesis 3:15).
Allow me to give you yet another example. A couple of weeks ago, I went on an errand to a local hospital where I have been treated several times. On the ground floor is a chapel that I have passed many times in the past, without ever noticing anything out of the ordinary.
This day, however, I noticed something I had never noticed before:
On the other side of the door was the English translation:
Here we see yet another title bestowed upon the Virgin Mary: that of Salvation of the Sick. This is further proof that the Virgin Mary is not the biblical Mary, the mother of Jesus, but another Mary. For nowhere in my Bible is Mary, the mother of Jesus, credited with having healed even one sick person, let alone having the power to heal all the sick. As with the image of “Our Lady of Guadalupe,” the message of the title “Salvation of the Sick” is that the Virgin Mary can not only “make you whole,” but that the Virgin Mary can also save you.
My Bible says that only the name of Jesus heals, not the name of Mary (Acts 3:1-16). My Bible also tells me that there is salvation in none other but Jesus Christ:
“Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
“And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
“And all the people saw him walking and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
“And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His son Jesus…and His name through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know; yea, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
Act. 3:1-16
Not once in the Bible does the Apostle Peter call on the name of the Virgin Mary to heal anyone: and not once in the Bible does the Apostle Peter pray to the Virgin Mary asking her to ask the Lord Jesus to heal anyone. If the Virgin Mary really were the “salvation of the sick” wouldn’t Peter know?
The Roman Catholic Church has given the Apostle Peter great authority, and have named many things after him: there’s St. Peter’s Square, the chair of St. Peter, St. Peter’s Basilica, Peter’s Pence, etc. etc. Yet, with all the lip service paid to Peter, the Roman Catholic Church completely ignores his words:
“Neither is there salvation in any other [beside the Lord Jesus Christ]; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
Amen.
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
What Roman Catholics Really Believe: What Is Lent?
Grace and peace.
Today is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Roman Catholic celebration of Lent. A Practical Catholic Dictionary defines Lent as:
“The period of forty days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday during which by prayer and fasting the Church makes itself ready for the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord. Lent is the second part of the Cycle of Easter and follows Septuagesima. The time of Lent is six and a half weeks, but the Sundays are not counted so that the period is considered forty days.
“After Our Lord had been baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan, He fasted forty days and nights in the desert. Here He was tempted three times by the devil and resisted him. In Lent the faithful follow the example of Our Lord in fighting against the devil through prayer and fasting.“
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 134
This is a rather confusing definition of Lent. It is first said that during Lent, Roman Catholics make themselves ready for the Easter holiday by praying and fasting. Then we are told that the faithful Roman Catholic prays and fasts in order to follow the example of the Lord Jesus when He resisted Satan in the wilderness. It must be emphasized that the celebration of Lent is not found in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible do we find the first-century Christians preparing themselves for Easter by celebrating Lent.
To get a deeper meaning of Lent, I looked up Ash Wednesday, mentioned in the definition of Lent, which can be found on page 29 of A Practical Catholic Dictionary. This is what it says:
“The Wednesday on which Lent begins. On this day ashes are blessed and placed on the foreheads of the priests and the people. The ashes are made by burning the palms blessed on Palm Sunday almost a year before. The priest says in Latin, while he places the ashes on the foreheads of the people: ‘Remember, man, that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return.’ Ash Wednesday, which reminds man of his short stay in this world, ushers in Lent in the spirit of penance.”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 29
If Ash Wednesday “ushers in Lent in the spirit of penance,” then in order to find out what the spirit of Lent is, it is necessary to find out what penance is. A Practical Catholic Dictionary defines penance as:
“Prayers or good works required of the penitent by the priest who has heard his confession. This penance satisfies in part for the sins confessed. See satisfaction for sin (p. 170).”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 170
This definition is problematic for several reasons, which we will not get into now, but, God willing, we will talk about it in depth in Part Two of this essay. For now, let us go to A Practical Catholic Dictionary’s definition of “satisfaction for sins,” which is incredibly revealing of the true nature of Lent. Satisfaction for sin can be found on page 196, and is defined as:
“Making up to God for sins committed against Him.The penitent satisfies in part for his sins when he says his Penance after Confession. Jesus Christ Himself, by His suffering and death, made infinite satisfaction for the sins of men. This is called vicarious satisfaction.”
A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 196
Again we read that penance “satisfies in part” for sins. If Ash Wednesday “ushers in Lent in the spirit of penitence” and penance “satisfies in part” for sins, then the implication is that the purpose of Lent is not to prepare for the Easter celebration, to identify with the Lord Jesus, or to resist sin and temptation. If we can believe A Practical Catholic Dictionary (and we certainly should believe it), then the true purpose of Lent is to perform some sort of penance, through “good works” and prayer, in order to make partial satisfaction for sins.
The observance of Lent, therefore, says that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross wasn’t good enough to pay for our sins. This is blasphemy.
Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Remembering Waco
Today marks the 24th anniversary of Day One of the United States federal government’s raid on the Mount Carmel Center and church owned by David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. On February 28, 1993, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms stormed the Branch Davidian ranch attempting to serve a warrant to David Koresh on suspicion of stockpiling illegal weapons. A gunfight ensued, which resulted in the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians.
Upon the ATF’s failure to serve the warrant to Koresh, the FBI took the lead, initiating a 51-day siege which ended on April 19, 1993 after the FBI and ATF, aided by British and U.S. Military Intelligence, INTERPOL, DELTA Force, and other agencies and entities used tanks, machine guns, CS gas, and other military tactics against the Davidians, attempting to drive them out of Mount Carmel. Their efforts resulted in a huge fire which consumed Mount Carmel, destroying it completely. 80 men, women, and children perished that day; dead from flame, CS gas, and automatic weapons fire. Some of the bodies were severely mutilated: their injuries consistent with having been run over by an armored vehicle.
The ATF and FBI maintain to this day that they never fired a shot. View the following video, and weigh it in the balance of your conscience.
The Still Man