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Friday, July 9, some of us
from Pilgrims Covenant Church traveled the 140 miles from Monroe to
Oshkosh in order to witness for Christ at the main gate of a supposedly
"Christian"--evangelical--event called Lifest. I had previously
written a short
article on that event,
including comments on a couple of thoroughly corrupted
"evangelical" keynote speakers, the ungodly bands, and their
anything but Christian music. I also called attention to the
issue which it seems is being largely ignored by the few other critics of
Lifest--I hasten to say at least the ones I am aware of--and that is
involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in Lifest.
Mixed in among the many
evangelical sponsors of Lifest was the Roman Catholic Green Bay
diocese; among the speakers were several Roman Catholics, including a
priest; among the "worship," a number of Roman Catholic masses;
among the activities, daily rosary recitations; among the services, daily
confessions to priests on site and "free spiritual walks with a
certified Catholic spiritual director." Lifest draws an average of
17,000 fans per day. Event officials estimate that approximately 25% of
those fans are actually Roman Catholics. By neo-evangelical definitions,
they would all, Roman Catholic and Protestant, be evangelical
together--all brothers and sisters in Christ.
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Franciscan Sisters recruitment
booth.
Photo credit: Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
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According to the web site
of the Green Bay diocese, Lifest is a golden opportunity for the
diocese to engage in "evangelization" of the "nearly 20,000
people across multiple groups, including youth, young adults, and
families." We are also informed that, "For the fourth
consecutive year, the Diocese of Green Bay will host an information table
at the Lifest hospitality center"; and this year, "members of
the diocese are invited to purchase 'United in the Eucharist' T-shirts and
wear them to Lifest. The blue T-shirts with white lettering and graphics
can be purchased for $7." Yes, be sure to wear those shirts to
Lifest; it will help with the "evangelization" and
desensitization of thousands of neo-evangelicals, including a great many
young people who do not have a clue that the Eucharist is a heathenish,
blasphemous ritual which makes a mockery of our great High Priest Christ
Jesus and His sacrifice on Calvary's cross. This does not reflect well on
their ministers, to say the least. By the way, the shirts were a hit; we
saw Roman Catholics wearing them at Lifest. It certainly bears mentioning
as well that the Franciscan Sisters had a recruiting booth at Lifest.
According to the sisters' web site, the purpose of this was to have "young
women come in contact with our vocation team."
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At the main gate of Lifest.
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But please allow me to tell
you a little about what we did at Lifest, since that will lead into why I
have titled this article as I have. For several reasons, we ended
up going to Lifest during the day on a Friday, so the only ones
available from our church to go were my two grown daughters. Certainly there
was no shortage of Lifest fans during the time we chose to
witness, and "there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many
or by few" (1 Sam. 14:6). The setup of Lifest was ideal
for our witness. The actual grounds have parking, but far more attendees
parked in the extensive parking in the huge county park directly across
the road from those grounds. So the two ladies stood on that side of the
public road handing out our An
Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics
each with one of our gospel tracts included, specifically The
Value of Our Souls.
I stood on the other side of the road from them at the main Lifest
entrance, holding two large signs, handing out tracts, doing some
preaching, and as it turned out, a whole lot of contending "for
the faith which was once delivered unto the saints," primarily
with Roman Catholics who chose to debate me in defense of popery. Those
poor people had almost no real knowledge of the Scriptures and very little
true knowledge of the history, the dogma, and the claims of their own
church.
As we were leaving Lifest,
just beginning the walk to our own car, the Lord led us right to
a Roman Catholic priest who had a dozen teenagers from his church with
him. In fact, it was the very priest who had just conducted a mass at
Lifest! With those young people listening, the priest and I engaged in a
long, wide-ranging exchange in which he sought to defend his church
and her dogmas against the Word of God as well as the condemnation of
Rome's own history. The so-called "real presence" in the mass,
justification, and Sola Scriptura versus the authority of the
Roman church were the three central issues in our debate, mostly because I
made them so. It is tempting to relate some of the content of that intense
exchange, but suffice it to say, the Spirit of the Lord will always
strongly support His people in such a situation, and truth will win the
day.
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Protestant pastor debates popish
priest (in black) while Roman Catholic young people listen.
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I must mention, there were
times when it almost seemed I could see the centuries rolled
back as I looked into the eyes of that very zealous young priest.
What I mean is, I could almost see the reflections of the burning martyrs
in the raw contempt I saw in the priest's eyes. How easy it is for us to
contend against Rome these days! How those martyrs would mourn if they saw
how few of their descendents in the faith are contenders for "the
captain of their salvation" (Heb. 2:10). Yet here is more
good news: the young people heard everything I shared, and every one of
them accepted tracts from us as well!
But I want to go back to
the main gate. As I mentioned, it was a perfect place to proclaim truth.
Those parking on the Lifest grounds turned in right in front of my
signs. Occupants of cars going by and often standing still in the road in
front of the gates read the signs. Shuttle carts bringing loads of people
from the parking lots in the park across the road drove right past
the signs. All of the people walking from the county park lots--and
there were a great deal of them--came past the signs. The police officer
directing traffic as well as a good number of Lifest staff standing at the
gate to check tickets, answer questions, and direct cars into the park all
saw the signs. They also heard my preaching, and that goes to the title of
this report.
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Music lovers could meet and greet
musicians in the Artist's tent during Lifest. Picture
and caption from the Northwestern.
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My conversations with Roman
Catholic people ended up with me sharing one last gospel exhortation by
preaching to them as they walked away and into Lifest. As I did this, more
Roman Catholics in the immediate area would shout out that they too were
Roman Catholics and proud of it. And so, each time I also preached to the
many evangelicals standing nearby, including the numerous Lifest staff.
Each time I asked them how they could say they love the Lord Jesus Christ
yet be a party to Him being blasphemed in the Romanist masses, briefly
sharing the essential facts of the mass. Then I would ask those calling
themselves evangelicals how they could claim to love the Roman
Catholic people when they were encouraging them in their false hope and
dark superstitions, so paving the road to hell for them. Finally, I would
point to Roman Catholics and preach, "There is a Roman Catholic:
will you share the gospel with him? Do you love his soul enough to share
Christ with him and show him the only way to be saved: by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone? Who among you will share Christ with
that Roman Catholic?"
The response from the
evangelicals was the same every single time. I preached. They stared at
me, and they just said nothing, nothing at all! I suppose it was all very
figurative of the times in which we live. The ecumenical movement is
spreading faster than a prairie wildfire in a stiff wind, and the whore of
Babylon is flaunting her blasphemy and idolatry everywhere with impunity.
Roman Catholics are slipping into hell every day, and new converts are
being daily brought into the pope's flock. But where is the evangelical,
Protestant--in the true, historic sense of the word--witness for Christ
and against Rome? Where? In reality, there is a deafening silence.
In 2008, our church
traveled 150 miles to La Crosse, Wisconsin to witness for Christ and
against Rome at the dedication of a multiple-building, many-acre shrine to
"Our Lady of Guadalupe" which is currently drawing thousands
upon thousands of "pilgrims" to La Crosse. For many months prior
to the shrine dedication, the area media, print and electronic, were
filled with glowing reports on the shrine complete with quotes from Roman
Catholic priests explaining the spiritual blessings and necessity of
Mariolatry. Yet, in spite of an extensive search, the only quotes we can
find from evangelical ministers are from me. I was interviewed by the
local radio and television stations as well as the La Crosse Tribune
newspaper. Now I take no pride in that; rather I feel only sorrow. My only
point in bringing it up is to ask: Where were the local pastors in the
face of that months long media campaign for Romish idolatry, including on
the shrine's day of dedication? Apparently, they just said nothing, at
least beyond their own little circles. If there is an exception to that
shameful silence, I truly hope it is drawn to our attention so that I can
not only correct my assumption but rejoice as well!
Ministers cannot do
everything and be every place, but when the issue is Rome's public mocking
of the faith of Jesus and her spiritual fornication with neo-evangelicals,
it seems as if the vast majority do nothing and are no place. Last
December, members of our church traveled to Des Plaines, Illinois to
witness to thousands of "pilgrims" in front of a shrine of
"Our Lady of Guadalupe" on her feast day. Actually, it is a
multi-day event which draws 100,000 Roman Catholics! A local
Christian police officer, happy to see our witness, told me he had not
seen any other Christians do likewise. Again, where are the local
pastors? What is their response to the pilgrimage of 100,000 lost Roman
Catholics into their town? If the police officer was right, apparently
they just said nothing. I truly hope he was wrong, but the available
evidence certainly would suggest that he may be right or at least not far
from wrong! Again, I would rejoice to stand corrected.
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A Lifest rocker
"worshiping" God. The fire seems most appropriate. Photo
credit: Lifest
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But back to Lifest. These
things are not done in a dark corner. The event was very well publicized
on Christian radio, in the local media; and everything one needs to know
about Lifest can be found out at the event's web site. Of course,
there are pastors in our state, including in the Oshkosh area, who do
not approve of packaging rock and Romanism as Christian and
evangelical. Perhaps some did publicly raise their voices on behalf of the
Lord and the lost in front of the Lifest gates, but as far as we can
ascertain, most, if not all, just said nothing.
Now again, no pastor can be
everywhere and do everything. But when it comes to witnessing at
ecumenical events and also witnessing for Christ against Rome and to
Romanists, I would think every pastor could at least find the time to be
somewhere and do something in the course of a year. It is, after all, a
pretty target rich environment. I stress pastors because it is clear
they have the first duty in both evangelism and the defense of the true
faith. Beyond that, in many ways, it is easier for a minister to make a
public stand for Christ against popery than it is for any other Christian.
The minister does not work every day with Roman Catholics, and he does not
get his living from the secular world but from the church. I am not saying
Christian men and women have no responsibility in this; I am just saying
ministers have the most of all for every reason and ought to take not only
the lead but also the highest profile in this matter by far.
The Lord's true ministers
are not acting like it when they just say nothing as Rome boldly
extends her influence and her net. Silence in such a case ought not to be
an option because silence in such a case is neither faithful nor
right. The same standard should be applied to all those held to be
leaders or teachers of the Lord's people, including those
conservative Christian radio personalities who rightly and regularly blast
moral evils such as abortion, political evils such as socialism, and
spiritual evils such as the emerging church but who just say nothing when
it comes to the history, the heresy, and the blasphemy of popery.
I cannot help but briefly
make an application of what I just said to the Lifest event. The
ungodly "Christian" rock culture has come about because of the
support of some evangelical churches, but not all. Yet, from the pope
down, the Roman Catholic Church supports and promotes that culture. The
socialism and emergent teachings of the likes of Lifest speaker Jim Wallis are
promoted by some "evangelical" churches, but not faithful ones.
Yet rank economic socialism has been systematically taught and promoted by
Rome from the top down since at least Thomas Aquinas. The pope's
bishops have long had their representatives in the halls of the UN, the
U.S. Congress, the state houses--in the case of FDR, via "Fr."
John Ryan in the White House--pushing hard for socialist programs,
initiatives, and even world government.
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Lifest fan of the
"Christian" band Skillet. Yes, it's a female.
Photo credit: Lifest
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I am by far no expert on
the emerging church, but I know enough to understand that in reality many
emergent teachings trace back to that polluted fountain in Rome. And
we could certainly say much concerning the corrupting influence of the
Roman Catholic "gospel" and go on to talk of Romish influence,
even inspiration, and certainly money, in advancing many other
grievous dangers--spiritual, moral, and political. But I hope that I have
been successful in making this last point. There are many false
teachers and teachings masquerading as Christian, but the headwaters
of spiritual error and corruption are in Rome. To ignore that is
to sin against Christ Jesus, play the useful idiot in the
devil's design, advance popery, and practically speaking, show hatred
for lost Roman Catholics.
No, it is not faithful,
wise, compassionate, or safe to just say nothing as Rome spreads her
deceptions, influence, and pollution across our land, even using ignorant
evangelicals as her helpers. Our Lord is being openly blasphemed; His
church is being openly polluted; and millions of lost sinners are being
openly led into eternal hell, thinking they are on their way to heaven.
Silence is not a righteous option, but silent the most part of this
generation of Christians has been and continues to be.
And I think I can almost
see a multitude of Roman Catholics from our age standing before the
judgment seat, looking over at the ministers of Christ's true church
in this generation and saying, "They knew the awful truth about my
church, and they knew the true gospel. They knew we were without God and
without hope in the world, deceived by the devil, enslaved by the pope,
and on the path to an eternity of torment. And they just said
nothing."
See also:
They Ought to Call It
"Deathfest"
And the winner is--the pope
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