False Gospel Alert in Malta

The pope did it again. He preached it during Christmas in 2005 and repeated it again this weekend in Malta. What was it? Nothing less than a false gospel that tells people that God loves them--all of them, whether they believe in him or not.

This is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He plainly told people that no one can come to the Father, except through him (John 6:44, 6:64, 14:6). He never said that God loves everyone.

For instance, Did God really love Pharoah? Is that why God let Pharoah and his army drown in the Red Sea? C'mon, get real pope. If God loves everyone, then everyone would be saved.

But we know that there are thousands upon thousands that die daily rejecting Jesus as the Christ, rejecting him as the Son of God.

The Gospel that is being preached by the pope is a false gospel and St. Paul tells us that those who preach it are condemned. (Galatians 1:8-9)

Is brother Jim a Calvinist? Maybe just a Bible Catholic?

It doesn't surprise me at all that some people want to label me. Labels make everything at least "seem" a little easier to understand. What I like about labels is that they often get you at least a little closer to the truth about someone. With that in mind, I've got some labels I'll readily admit to.

For instance, I'll readily admit that I'm not offended by being called a Calvinist, to a certain extent at least, because I certainly agree with the gospel that is preached by honest 5-point Calvinism.

However, you would have to call me more of a Lutheran of sorts when it comes to the Lord's Supper. You could even call me a "Eucharistic Calvinist" and I wouldn't be offended, though you might find several Calvinsts real stirred up about that.

I write this because, unlike Calvinism, I very much literally believe the promise of Christ that we recieve his very body and blood when we receive the bread and wine during the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion. Not because the priest has some special charism or gift from the Holy Spirit that makes it possible for him to "confect" the body and blood of Christ, as taught by the Roman Church. No. I believe that I receive the body and blood of Jesus because Jesus himself promises it to all who believe in him.

Jesus plainly promises us that we receive his body and blood when we receive the bread and wine during Holy Communion (Matthew 26:-28). Though you may think that's the Roman Catholic teaching, it is not. The Romans teach that the bread and the wine become the body, blood as well as soul and divinity of Jesus Christ--the whole Christ (transubstantiation). This makes it possible to bow down to the bread.

They say the bread and wine are totally destroyed during the priest's prayer and become his body, blood, soul and divinity--which was added by popes who believed the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas. While they get an "A" for being imaginative, they get an "F" for making this a belief that is required for salvation. They get an F minus for urging people to kneel and pray to the bread from Holy Communion as they would pray to Jesus (known as Eucharistic adoration). Even the Orthodox Church rejects this teaching.

Again, we very much disagree with Roman Catholics when it comes to the teaching of transubstantiation. We say that Aquinas and the church borrowed way too much from the pagan philosopher Aristotle to come up with an explanation that suddenly became the "word of God" (according to the pope) for Roman Catholics. Because they made this explanation a belief required for salvation for all, they messed up big time. It became part of their whole false gospel.

Roman Catholics and Protestants should listen all the more to Paul who clearly tells us that "whosever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11: 27)

How can we be "guilty of sinning agianst the body and blood of the Lord, if what we eat and drink is not the body and blood of the Lord? For more specifics, go to http://www.biblecatholics.com/holy_communion.htm.

In addtion, I very much oppose those so-called Calvinists who favor "Common Grace" and I am very much with the Protestant Reformed Church when it comes to the total rejection of Common Grace. To read the specifics, go to http://www.biblecatholics.com/grace_uncommon.htm.

In other words, I don't believe "common gracers" are true Calvnists. Sadly, this is another reason (in addition to Holy Communion) that I am essentially at odds with most Calvinists, even though we certainly agree on the gospel. Amazing isn't it? We agree on the gospel, the message about and from Christ, but disagree on the gospel of Christ through the sacrament of Holy Communion. They believe that we spiritually receive Christ's body and blood. I believe that too, but I also believe that we receive him physically through the bread and wine. My excuse? I've just got to go where the word of God leads me.

By the way, The basic reason I reject the idea of common grace is that I don't believe God even "passively" blesses those who don't believe in him. Yeah, unbelievers may be alot richer than me in dollars and cents but that money just ensures that they don't much care about God and what he can do for them. What good is their money if they're headed for hell? In this case, their money makes life a lot more comfortable, but what is that compared to an eternity in hell? My hope for them is that God with have mercy via annihilation.

The concept of Common Grace is also an essential denial of predestination. While people get all hot and bothered about that word, as I have written before, it is essentially no more than our humble admission that God is in total control of everything. If he wasn’t in total control, he would not be an almighty God. All who worship a God who is not in total control, worship an idol of their own making.

Because we worship a God who is in total control, we know he can keep all of his promises. He has proven that many, many times already by showing us that his Old Testament phophecies have indeed come to pass in the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

 --brother Jim

The true church: The gospel in both word and sacrament

The true Church, founded by Christ, tells us of the gospel—his dying on a cross to save completely all those he died for. This comes from God’s word, the Bible, where Jesus himself promises everlasting life for all who believe in him and his complete and finished work for their salvation (John 6:47). In short, by his death and resurrection Jesus--the Son of God in the flesh—defeated sin, death and the devil and won eternal life—heaven—for all who believe in him.

The gospel in word and sacrament

This gospel is the “good news” that is from and about Jesus the Christ. Jesus and what he has done for us is celebrated every week in the true Church when believers come together. They hear the presbyter or elder preach the gospel from the Bible and also remind them of the words of Jesus at his Last Supper, when he clearly promises us his body and blood as we wait for his return.

So, although we may be accused of seeking a perfect church, we can say in all honesty that we ask only that these two biblical marks be most obvious in any true church: The gospel of Jesus dying and rising again bodily to win believers eternal life, and that same gospel in the form of his Last Supper empowering us by his body and blood, his grace, which he promised us for this life until he comes again. This is what we call the gospel in both word (Bible) and sacrament (baptism and Lord’s Supper—Holy Communion).

All that believers do in this life is done in simple thanksgiving that Jesus alone has saved us by his one great work on the cross. He died and rose bodily for nothing less than the complete salvation of all whom he has given the gift of faith to believe in him. (Ephesians 2:8-10). Those who have this gift of faith to believe in Jesus should know that it is also a wonderful sign to each of them that he has chosen them for everlasting life with him.

False gospels abound—warning signs

We pray for those who have never heard or have wondered away from this true Gospel to worship a christ of their own making--someone who shed his blood for no more than the "possibility" of every ones' salvation. This false gospel is told in many ways, but no matter how many ways it is explained, it is no gospel at all, for in it Jesus actually saves no one, but relies on the help of each person to work with him to attain their own salvation or eternal life by what they do in this life.

Any gospel that claims that you have any--even the smallest role--in your salvation, is a false gospel. It is a perversion that offers a false christ who only "helps" you toward salvation, but does not save and is therefore not the true Christ, but no more than an idol. Those who preach such "gospels" are condemned (Galatians 1:8-9) unless they repent. Those who worship this false jesus have fallen into idolatry.

While this gospel perversion is not always clearly evident in certain faith statements offered by so-called churches or denominations, it is most easily identified when the group admits that it believes a true Christian may “lose his or her salvation.” Whenever you hear such a thing, you can know you are dealing with a false body of worshippers. They may be sincere, but they are sincerely mistaken about the good news of Christ Jesus.

Jesus has promised us that all who believe in him have eternal life and that he will not let us be condemned, perish or be snatched from his hands (John 5:24 and 10:27-30). Those who do not believe these promises from Jesus, reject Jesus himself and his gospel. To believe that a true Christian can lose his or her salvation, is a rejection of Jesus's clear gospel promises and thus a rejection of Jesus. It is a refusal to give him all the credit for our salvation.

These people usually believe instead a false gospel that claims Christ can die for someone without saving them. They claim that Jesus shed his blood to the death for some people who will end up in hell. Of course, this false gospel makes Jesus himself a failure, and causes people to focus on themselves instead of Christ for their salvation. They start trusting in their own works, prayers and good deeds to help them attain heaven instead of putting all their trust in Christ.

This false gospel is found in Roman Catholicism and among many Protestant denominations as well. Sadly, it has spread like a cancer in the last 100 years to encompass most of what is called Christianity in our day.

You will most often hear this false gospel preached when you hear the word "free will." Those who believe in the power of this so-called "free will" of man often give it a very elevated place in their lives. Though they cannot tell us where to find it in the Bible, they insist that it is very important to God that we come to him voluntarily, of our own "free will" or choice. However, this is contrary to Christ’s own words in the Bible where he tells us that no one comes to him, unless the Father calls him (John 6:44, 6:65), that it is not we who choose him, but he who chooses us (John 15:16), and that we are to pray that God's will, be done (Matthew 6:10), not our own will.

Their false belief in their own "free will" control of their life and destiny also allow them to reject the fact that God is in total control of all things, past, present and to come (Ephesians 1:4-5). In other words, they also reject the doctrine of predestination, which is no more than our humble admission that God is in total control of everything. If he wasn’t in total control, he would not be an almighty God. If he wasn't in total control—we could not believe all his promises, but because he is in total control, we can believe all those promises. All who worship a God who is not in total control, worship an idol of their own making.

Exploiting or reducing the Lord’s Supper

The Lord's Supper has also been corrupted in Roman Catholicism as a re-presented sacrifice that goes far beyond any biblical explanation provided by Jesus himself, ending in idolatry. On the other hand, in most of Protestantism, Christ's own words and biblical promise to give us his body and blood, have been rejected by being reduced to no more than a representation—and usually a shallow representation at that. All of these so-called churches claim to know the gospel, but continue to reject it in either word or sacrament and sometimes both.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the true church is able to see these false teachings and reject all false gospels. It celebrates the truth of the gospel of Christ in both word and sacrament. It proclaims the truth of Christ's finished work--that has won the salvation of all who believe in him, and it invites them to be baptized and receive Christ's body and blood in his Supper for their strengthening. It calls upon true believers to join in the community of faith that is the true church.

The church is the community that the Lord himself founded with the promise that the gates of hell will never prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
Amen. -- brother Jim

What do I want most for my wife? That she believe the Gospel.

As a Roman Catholic who stayed in the "church" for 40 years before he left, this message is what I pray first and foremost for my wife who divorced me:

That she believe that Christ alone has won the salvation of all who believe in him--which is the message or the gospel of his finished work that he accomplished by his death on the cross.

I ask her, and all who claim to be Roman Catholics, to read these following paragraphs to get a taste of the real Gospel promises that Jesus has made for all who truly believe in him.

First and foremost, Jesus promises all who believe in him everlasting life! What’s that? It’s heaven, it's eternal life with Him!

“He who believes in me has everlasting life.” (Jesus speaking in John Chapter 6, verse 47)

Yes, Jesus absolutely promises that all who believe in him will one day be with him in his heavenly kingdom.

But what about all of our sins? He died to erase the sins of everyone who believes in him, and he rose from the dead to prove his promise of everlasting life!

Jesus put it this way: “He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned (will not go to hell). He has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24)

If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrightousness. (1 John 1:9)

Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin (whose sin the Lord will never count against him). Romans 4:7-8

But, can’t we lose our salvation through sin and go to hell? No. Because Jesus has given you your belief in him (faith) and your salvation as a gift. So, though you may fall from time to time, you are always in his hands—he says so himself in the Bible—it’s his promise. As God in the flesh, you can count on him to keep it! ..the gift of God is everlasting life. (Romans 6:28)

"I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." (John 10:28-30)

Jesus promises he is preparing a place for all who believe in him: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and rece ive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:1-3)

Remembering March 6, 1982... our wedding day

It was 28 years ago today--the wedding of the century--for me at least. As I recall, we were both pretty excited about it. I think she had to get some blood because her red blood cells were running low or something. It was a great service with our marriage counselor priest and two other priests who were quite close to me as concelebrants at Mass. There was a nice little reception afterward, and two exhausted newly weds headed off to a nice hotel room in Tulsa. Looking back on it, they were a real sweet couple.

Jesus said:
"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife: And the two shal be one flesh; so they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

And in the house his disciples asked him (Jesus) again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another she commits adultery." (Mark 10:6-12)

No support system and plenty of contacts make “Catholic divorces” easy (series)

Growing up in a "different" community
I was a Roman Catholic for more than 40 years. I was the eldest of nine kids and all of us piled into the car every Sunday with mom and dad and made a 15 mile journey to the little mission church in Eufaula.

That was “our church” though it was usually just a Sunday thing, except for an occasional “holy day of obligation” and maybe a church dinner once or twice a year at most.

We really liked all the folks at that little church and they felt like family to us—for a couple of hours every Sunday. And after those two hours…we rarely saw any of them for the rest of the week.

In fact, the rest of the week, we were “real ecumenical” in a hometown that was wall to wall Protestant. Mom even sent us to vacation bible school at the Church of Christ (where I first learned to read the bible) and the Methodist Church (more bible practice).

Another favorite summer vacation bible school was the one out at the lake with the Federated Church minister and his wife (more singing and crafts than Bible reading). We even occasionally went on youth trips throughout the year with the First Baptist (Southern Baptist) Church. And yes, believe it or not, as teenagers, me, my two brothers (twins) and sister made the headcount look a lot better in the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF). I’m not kiddin’—Catholic kids moonlighting as MYF members. We did it.

So what’s the point? We were Catholic kids who grew up in a Protestant community. Consequently, if we ever had an important conversation, it was usually with a Protestant and not a Roman Catholic. The few times I had an important conversation about one Roman Catholic doctrine or another—mom and dad would go ballistic—especially if I noted the bible we’d learned about with our Protestant friends didn’t say a thing about this Catholic belief or that one.

I wanted to know too much

I was really the only kid, among the older ones in my family, who was interested in what the Catholic Church had to teach us. The same thing was true with the woman who became my wife. She really just didn’t care what the church taught. She was raised to go to a certain church every Sunday and that was that—just like me—except I had this "stupid" interest in what the church required us to believe.

Still, for both of us, the word “church” simply meant a “place” to “be near our Maker” for an hour or two a week. That was all. Even when Roberta began singing at church, that was just another hour of practice. She enjoyed singing, so the extra hour just made her feel better that she was contributing to the worship.

Did we have close Catholic friends who cared enough about the faith that they called us to be “good Catholics?” No. We had some Catholic friends, but we didn’t see them much, except for Mass and none of them ever offered any “spiritual” support. That just really wasn’t to be found—it was always treated as something that was just too “personal.” We didn’t really even talk about it.

When I finally began trying to practice the Roman Catholic teachings I was raised in—my wife was having nothing to do with it. Weekly or monthly confession? I had to be kidding! Daily Mass? What’s wrong with you?

And that was only the beginning, the list of required-for-salvation Catholics beliefs is a long one: Papal infallibility and supremacy, Mary’s immaculate conception and her bodily assumption into heaven, Mary’s perpetual virginity, the existence of Purgatory, the absolute necessity for confession of our sins to a priest and absolution from the priest, the teaching that you will go to hell if you die with a mortal sin on your soul, no assurance of salvation, transubstantiation, the consecrated host containing the “whole” Christ—his body, blood, soul and divinity, the Mass as an actual sacrifice, to name just few.

Blocking me out--facilitating the divorce
So my wife decided she just wasn’t even going to think about all that—just keeping going to Mass and singing on Sunday—block out what she considered negative. She never had anyone but me asking her to try to support the teachings of the church and I was easy to block out. Where were the priests? Where were the devout Catholics? Where was her own family? Her Roman Catholic deacon daddy?

Her Roman Catholic deacon daddy? He was the guy who made it easy for his “baby” to divorce me. He facilitated the whole thing. He and Grandma were there to take our own babies away so their daughter could tell me she’d filed for a divorce, then dash off to join all her liberated “Mary Kay” girl friends for the “conference” in Kansas City.

Had her parents tried to slow her down? Asked her to consider a temporary separation? Urged some serious counseling? Inquired about her antidepressant medication? If her parents did so, they never mentioned a word of it to me and never gave me even one supportive word—and its been nine years now.

Instead, they made it their goal to meet and exceed all their daughter’s selfish, over-medicated decisions. They paid for the divorce attorney, put her up at their place for several months while she got a job and got her feet on the ground, took care of the boys, helped her get into a home. Yes, they’re the salt of the earth, and they haven’t done a damn thing to this day—to help give our marriage a second chance in any way. Baby don’t want that.

On to the annulment
But now comes the one contribution they can make to drive the stake of sure death into this marriage—help baby get that annulment—so she can feel good about doing “things” with other men.

My wife’s own mother has spent the last several years telling my two boys it’s ok for their mom to date other men—because she "deserves" to do so! What? Yep, even Grandma gets to air her twisted doctrine of "divorce deserves good things."

As for my own mom? My wife told the boys that all my “mommy dearest” had to tell her was that she couldn’t believe my wife hadn’t divorce me sooner! I swear, you’d think I had been building a brothel or beating my wife or something. As always, thanks so much for your support mom. There’s nothing like family!

And just when you thought it couldn’t get better for baby—her daddy, the good “deacon emeritus” has a bunch of friends in Tulsa where he’s helped from time to time at the tribunal. Yeah, he’s helped people get annulments there before—and you can bet he’ll be right there for his baby again this time.

These people don’t care about doing the right thing—they just want to help baby get what baby wants. And no, it don’t matter if it’s a sin or not. And no, it don’t even really matter that Jesus says baby will commit adultery if she remarries (Mark 10:12). What matters is what baby wants, and what baby wants, is what baby gets. How’s that for some REAL Roman Catholic doctrine?

To top it all off—the local priest is a canon lawyer! Go baby, go baby, go baby go! We’ll get you the handbasket you want for Hell, and give you the church’s blessing to boot!

The witnesses
The hypocrisy doesn’t get much deeper than this folks. And to think my two young sons are plenty old enough that they’ll remember all this for the rest of their lives.

Talk about a model family.

Lord, have mercy.

Annulments simply finalize divorces--throw spouses to wolves

The easy divorces, like the one my wife got from me, are the norm in the good ol’ U.S.A. these days. She filed in March of 2001, and less than two months later, sometime in May, the divorce was finalized. I wanted to fight it, but my attorney insisted there was no use and he reminded me that’s why I had hired him—to appear in court on my behalf. Still, if I had to do it over again, I’d at least read a message to the judge telling him I was against the divorce.

On the other hand, I had just spent two months in the same house with a wife who had filed for divorce (much to the amazement of my attorney) and I was dead tired of begging her to reconsider and crying myself to sleep at night, knowing we’d have to tell our children soon.

Yes, the attorney was amazed to find that although my wife had filed neither she nor I had any intention of leaving the place we were staying until school was out in May. She’d move with the boys and I would follow two months later

So two short months, and bam—she took off with the boys for her mom and dad’s house, and I was just lucky to find a job nearby. Otherwise my sons may have seen very little of me. Nine year later, I guess I should be grateful they’ve seen their dad about a quarter of the time.

In any case, these easy divorces do nothing good for anyone. The woman in the divorce is immediately potential food for the wolves of the online dating services—which may be what she wanted if she was the one who filed. But it’s hard to believe many women actually “want” that.

One of the things I wondered as soon as I found myself “single” was how stupid this whole “divorce” thing was. In my mind. How dumb could my ex be? I mean, maybe I hadn’t been the most gracious husband lately, but at least I was a damn site better than most of these guys online who want nothing to do but get into someone else’s pants!

I mean, geez, talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. I wonder how many women actually consider their aloneness and the wolves as they file for divorce? Maybe that’s what it’s all about with these women—going for the fire?