Matt Maher is Not Saved, Stop Singing His Music in Church

SEE: https://reformationcharlotte.org/2019/02/01/matt-maher-is-not-saved-stop-singing-his-music-in-church/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Modern Evangelicals are happily embracing a deceptive evil, and letting it creep into their churches. The evil is a counterfeit gospel, a counterfeit Christianity. The evil is the Roman Catholic Church, and it’s creeping in unawares, especially to young and impressionable minds, through worship music. Particularly, a Catholic singer named Matt Maher has become strikingly popular in Evangelical worship. With the compromise of today’s Evangelical leadership, this should come as no surprise. Al Mohler once said he believed that there would be millions of Catholics in heaven. Other Southern Baptists are declaring confessing, professing Roman Catholics saved (See here, and here). And it just about every contemporary Baptist church, you’ll hear “worship” music written by Roman Catholics.

Charles Spurgeon once said,

I question if hell can find a more fitting instrument within its infernal lake than the Church of Rome is for the cause of mischief. And your church will in its measure, be the same if bereft of the Spirit.

What a gem of truth. The rate at which Evangelicals are embracing this false spirit as alarming. Historically, and as a result of the conservative resurgence, Southern Baptists have withstood much of the apostasy that has befallen other denominations. For the most part, Southern Baptists have held a strong (but weakening) stance against homosexuality entering the church. At least, for now, you don’t find acceptance of homosexuality preached from the pulpits in most SBC churches. And most SBC pastors aren’t going to recommend to their congregation books written by homosexual activists, like Matthew Vines, that call themselves Christians.

So why do we make exceptions for Roman Catholics? Why do we declare them saved when they reject the true Gospel? Why do we worship to music written by Matt Maher, a Roman Catholic?

Evangelicals are being duped. Roman Catholicism, like any other false religion, is an abomination to God. It is absolutely asinine for Al Mohler to believe that there would be millions of Catholics in heaven. Does Al Mohler believe there will be millions of Mormons in heaven too? How about millions of practicing homosexuals? Would he want devotionals written by Matthew Vines to be studied in Sunday School at his church? What about prayers written by Glenn Beck to be read during worship service? Do you see the inconsistency?

Yet, Evangelicals everywhere are embracing Roman Catholicism as brothers and sisters in Christ. Russell Moore recently said in an article he co-authored with Roman Catholic, Marco Rubio, “both of us are of the Christian faith.”

Why do they believe this?

Roman Catholics cannot be Christians because they reject Jesus as wholly sufficient for the remission of their sins. Because of this, they practice idolatry regularly, through the mass, in which a priest supposedly summon Jesus out of Heaven to enter a wafer, and then proceed to eat and drink the physical body and blood of what they believe to be Jesus, present in the wafer. They practice idolatry through the veneration of Mary and the Saints in order to try to gain favor with God. They reject the fellowship of a true, local church that teaches and exposits the Scriptures authoritatively. And they practice idolatry by putting their faith in their man-made organization, hierarchical priest system, and sacraments for their salvation.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Let me make that clear: Do not be deceived, a practicing, unrepentant Roman Catholic will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It doesn’t matter if a Roman Catholic “sounds evangelical” in his testimony. If he’s in the Roman Catholic Church and doesn’t see anything wrong with the idolatry he practices daily, he has not been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

It doesn’t matter if Matt Maher says he’s a Christian or makes a “Christian-sounding” profession of faith. He is still a Roman Catholic, who practices idolatry, and is not repentant of it. It doesn’t matter if some of his music sounds okay. It doesn’t matter if he says he believes in Jesus. If he is unrepentant of his sin, he has not been regenerated.

But let’s go out on a limb here, and say that perhaps he is saved, and just hasn’t come to realize yet through sanctification that he’s caught up in a false religion. Sanctification is both immediate and progressive, therefore, it is possible for a Roman Catholic to be saved, and still (temporarily) be in the Roman Catholic Church. It still doesn’t matter. He’s still practicing sin, should be called to repentance, and by no means should he, or his worship music be played in a Bible-believing church. We wouldn’t do that for other unrepentant sinners. Why do we make exceptions for Roman Catholics?

We wouldn’t do that for other unrepentant sinners. Why do we make exceptions for Roman Catholics?

 

Billy Graham’s Granddaughter Among Signers of “Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden” Statement

The statement https://www.christianpost.com/voice/fri-2nd-embargo-for-noon-we-are-pro-life-evangelicals-for-biden.html began reasonably:

"As pro-life evangelicals, we disagree with Vice President Biden and the Democratic platform on the issue of abortion."

SEE: https://disrn.com/opinion/opinion-yes-abortion-is-a-deal-breaker-for-christians

EXCERPTS: 

"But we believe that a biblically shaped commitment to the sanctity of human life compels us to a consistent ethic of life that affirms the sanctity of human life from beginning to end."

Yes, and in what state of consciousness must one be in to conclude that Joe Biden and the modern Democrat Party affirms that "consistent ethic of life"?

  • The party that seeks to codify infanticide?
  • The party that demands the public-school indoctrination of young people with the fanciful view of life being nothing but a cosmic accident with no ultimate purpose or destiny?
  • The party that actively promotes an ethic that defines disabled or inconvenient life as unworthy of legal protection?
  • The party that excuses the "humane" extermination of elderly and infirmed life?
  • The party that champions as courageous those who would terminate their own existence rather than battle terminal illness?

Article Image

SEE: https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/10/06/billy-grahams-granddaughter-among-signers-of-pro-life-evangelicals-for-biden-statement/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

One of the most oxymoronic statements of 2020 is the statement itself, “Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden.” Joe Biden, himself, is the epitome of pro-abortion and the left has determined that more access to abortion is the path forward for this country.

Besides the fact that Joe Biden is staunchly pro-abortion, Biden and the left’s platform consists of practically everything that God hates; abortion, homosexuality, theft, lawlessness, etc. Yet, despite this, a group of well-known evangelicals has signed a statement endorsing Joe Biden for president.

Among the original signers of the statement include several well-known evangelicals including Christianity Today Board Chair emeritus, John Huffman, Fuller Seminary president emeritus, Richard Mouw, Billy Graham’s Granddaughter, Jerusha Duford, President emeritus Westminster Theological Seminary, Samuel T. Logan, and several others.

The statement boasts financial reasons — not sin — as the most common reason women commit abortions and endorses Joe Biden’s socialism and wealth redistribution as the antidote.

“Knowing that the most common reason women give for abortion is the financial difficulty of another child,” reads the statement, “we appreciate a number of Democratic proposals that would significantly alleviate that financial burden: accessible health services for all citizens, affordable childcare, a minimum wage that lifts workers out of poverty.”

What these signers, who lay claim to the evangelical faith, don’t understand is that abortion is murder. They do not value human life. Life is not expendable simply because a woman doesn’t believe that she can raise a child. To take an unborn human life is not only murder and should be treated as such, punishable under the maximum extent of the law, it is an affront to God and a direct attack on his image. It is not the government’s responsibility to financially support your children, it is your responsibility. It is the government’s responsibility to protect the God-given right to life and freedom to live affirmed in the Constitution of the United States.

To support the right to kill a child is not Christian and none of the signers of this statement should be treated as such.

 

Beth Moore Denies Original Sin, Says We are Born Seeking Things of God

SEE: https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/10/07/beth-moore-denies-original-sin-says-we-are-born-seeking-things-of-god/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

The Bible does not allow women to function in the role of pastor or preacher — and for good reason. Women are not permitted to be pastors or hold a role of authority over men in the Church. The bible is crystal clear on this issue.

There are some women who downright disobey this rule and there are some who presumptuously assume the role that has been forbidden to them. Any pastor who makes excuses for this transgression, ordaining women to the office of pastor, are themselves arrogant and unqualified.

But besides the prohibition in Scripture against women preaching, some are just rank heretics — like Beth Moore.

Beth Moore has a multitude of heresies on her laundry list and they continue to stack up. The latest, she has denied original sin and she claims — in opposition to the Scriptures which says that no one does good, no one seeks God (Romans 3:11) — that we are “born with a drive to seek the things of God.”

 

 

Pope’s new encyclical praises imam who supports wife-beating and death penalty for apostates

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/10/popes-new-encyclical-praises-imam-who-supports-wife-beating-and-death-penalty-for-apostates;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

This is what interfaith dialogue leads to, at least for the Christian side: total capitulation, the relativization of the faith, and the holding of contradictory ideas. The fruit of the dialogue between Muslims and Catholics has not been the protection of Christians in Muslim countries, but a silence from the Catholic Church on this persecution. Bishops in the U.S. and Europe have now have been teaching for years that any discussion of such matters is “Islamophobic,” and will harm this wonderful dialogue that has actually no accomplishments to its name. In 2013, Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts canceled my scheduled address to a Catholic Men’s Conference and explained: “Spencer’s talk about extreme, militant Islamists…might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims.” So you see, even talk about “extreme, militant Islamists,” and Boko Haram and the Fulani herdsmen are quintessentially “extreme, militant Islamists,” is out of bounds, because of the dialogue.

“‘Death Penalty’ Imam Debunks Fratelli Tutti,” by Jules Gomes, ChurchMilitant.com, October 6, 2020:

VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – Pope Francis’ abrogation of the death penalty in Fratelli Tutti is being blown sky-high by his chief dialogue partner Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb — who, in accordance with Islamic jurisprudence, supports the execution of apostates from Islam.

“Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide,” Francis declares in his latest encyclical, contradicting Scripture and 2,000 years of Sacred Tradition.

But al-Tayyeb, who is named five times and upheld as the pontiff’s inspiration in Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers), trashes Francis’ declaration, stating: “The four schools of law all concur that apostasy is a crime, that an apostate should be asked to repent, and that if he does not, he should be killed.”

“[Contemporary] jurisprudents concur — and so does ancient jurisprudence — that apostasy is a crime,” al-Tayyeb asserts in a 2016 Arabic interview, translated into English by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

“We should be aware that the concepts of human rights are full of ticking time bombs,” the grand imam warned, labeling apostasy “high treason” and “a rebellion both against religion and what is held sacrosanct by society.”

Al-Tayyeb cites the “exception of the Hanafi School,” which legislates “that a female apostate should not be killed.” He explains the exception is “because it is inconceivable that a woman would rebel against her community.”

‘Only the Pope’ Confused

Church Militant’s Arabic translator, who is himself an “apostate” living in fear of the death penalty for converting to Christianity, confirmed that the translation was accurate.

Distinguished Islamic historian Robert Spencer, author of 21 books on Islam, told Church Militant:

Al-Tayyeb clearly teaches that those who leave Islam must be killed. This is in accord with traditional Islamic teaching. Al-Tayyeb has shown no sign of moving toward the Christian position of the freedom of conscience and dignity of the human person. Only the pope is moving in the other direction.

Spencer drew our attention to the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI).

Article 2(a) of the CDHRI states: “It is prohibited to take away life except for a Sharia prescribed reason,” explaining that, “since all four Islamic schools of jurisprudence concur on the death penalty for apostates,” this made apostasy a valid “Sharia-prescribed reason” for the death penalty.

“Pope Callixtus III vowed in 1455 to ‘exalt the true Faith, and to extirpate the diabolical sect of the reprobate and faithless Mahomet in the East,'” Spencer noted. “Now his latest successor is quoting the holy book of this ‘diabolical’ sect as if it contained wisdom that Christians should heed.”

Interpretations of ‘Equality’ Differ

In a 2019 Arabic interview verified by Church Militant, al-Tayyeb contradicts Pope Francis’ encyclical by condemning the Western notion of equality as “false” and stating that “the Islamic notion of equality is limited.”

But Francis states in Fratelli Tutti: “I have felt particularly encouraged by the grand imam, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, with whom I met in Abu Dhabi, where we declared that ‘God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters.'”

Pope Francis’ statement on equality is a partial citation of the words of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. “It would be unrealistic to assert the absolute equality of human beings, although humans are basically equal in rights, duties and accountability,” Muhammad declares, according to a narration in Ayub al Tabarani.

Orthodox Islam rejects the biblical concept of man created in God’s image as blasphemous and the phrase “image of God” never occurs in the Qur’an. Pope Francis avoids declaring this as the basis for equality “because he does not want to upset his Muslim interlocutors. Instead, he adopts the words of Muhammad as the basis for his teaching on equality, with the notable omission of Muhammad’s denial of the ‘absolute equality of human beings,'” Spencer told Church Militant.

“The Western notion of equality is, I’m very sad to say, absolute. It has destroyed — or has strived to destroy — many of the values that are more vital for the stability of people’s lives,” al-Tayyeb observes in his interview.

“If we examine the Western notion of equality … As a researcher I have the right to say that in my opinion, this notion is false,” he adds, noting that this is the basis for gay marriage in the West.

Francis Ignores Islamic Sexism

Catholic feminists, who have expressed outrage at what they claim is a ‘sexist‘ title for  Fratelli tutti, are yet to challenge the pontiff for celebrating the grand imam as an “inspiration” despite al-Tayyeb’s views on “wife-beating.”

In the 2019 interview, the grand imam defends the right of a man to beat his wife under “certain conditions.”

People should realize that “the Qur’an’s mentions of wife-beating are not an order. Rather, the Qur’an allows using this method,” al-Tayyeb explains, “when there is no other way, and when he [the husband] strongly believes that this would help resolve the problem. Only in this case, the husband is allowed to beat his wife.’…

 

‘Infidel’: At Last, a Film That Deals Realistically with Islamic Terrorism

VIDEO:

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/culture/robert-spencer/2020/10/05/infidel-at-last-a-film-that-deals-realistically-with-islamic-terrorism-n1005868;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

It is a staple of the Muslim victimhood industry to complain that Hollywood frequently features Muslim terrorist villains, and seldom depicts Muslims as anything other than terrorists. Reality is just the opposite: can you think of even one major motion picture that featured Islamic terrorists as the villains? In a typical instance, Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears, jihadis were the villains, but when the book was made into a movie, the villains were changed to neo-Nazis. Moviemakers routinely shy away from depicting the grim reality of jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women and others. But not Cyrus Nowrasteh.

Nowrasteh, who gave us the eye-opening and heart-rending 2009 film The Stoning of Soraya M., which focused on an honor killing, has written, directed, and produced the new movie Infidel, starring Jim Caviezel, Claudia Karvan, and Hal Ozsan. Infidel is as startling, on many levels, as it is gripping. Caviezel plays a Christian blogger who is kidnapped by a Hizballah cell (headed up by a cheerfully villainous and thoroughly engaging Ozsan) and taken to Iran.

That this is the storyline is in itself remarkable. Were Infidel the production of virtually any director besides Nowrasteh, Caviezel’s Christian character Doug Rawlins would turn out to be stupid, evil, or both, while Ozsan’s Ramzi, even while being a Hizballah kidnapper, would be depicted as wise, noble, or even heroic. Muslims are victims of Islamophobic, racist, redneck American yahoos — that’s the general Hollywood narrative, played out in innumerable films.

Infidel instead opts to be more realistic, recalling actual events that seldom gain Hollywood’s notice, such as the 1987 kidnapping of journalist Charles Glass by Hizballah in Lebanon. Infidel unflinchingly portrays the gleeful brutality and inhumanity of Rawlins’ captors, as well as his own struggles to maintain his Christian faith amid torture and isolation. Amid all this, the film’s realism is thoroughgoing: once the movie’s perspective was established, it was refreshing to see Caviezel portray Rawlins as alternately angry, afraid, and confused, rather than as a plaster saint, above the fray and singing hymns even as he is being beaten and verbally abused.

Nor is that all. Besides being one of the few feature films to portray the reality of jihad terror in a realistic manner, Infidel is also one of the first, if not the first, major motion pictures to depict the pervasive but seldom-noticed reality of secret Christians in majority-Muslim countries, as well as the Sharia death penalty for leaving Islam, honor killings, and even the “Islamophobia” scam. Early in the movie, before Rawlins has left the U.S. and been kidnapped, investigators are searching the home of Javid, a Muslim friend of Rawlins. They find that Javid’s basement is filled with unmistakable evidence that he is a jihad terrorist, or at very least a terrorist sympathizer.  All the while, however, a lawyer does her best to impede the search, proclaiming that it is “Islamophobia” to think that anything is amiss with Javid at all.

That is a recurring reality of life in America today: for years now it has been routine that any honest examination of jihad terror and Sharia oppression, and any effort to impede it, is “Islamophobic” and hence to be eschewed by all decent people. Up to now, the closest movies got to this phenomenon was their producers’ own fear of being tarred with the “Islamophobic” label if they got too close to depicting jihad violence in an accurate manner, or at very least without some kind of assurance to the audience that Islam is really not like that, but gentle, peaceful, and altogether benign. For a film to show how the “Islamophobia” weapon is actually wielded in order to stymie counterterror efforts is nothing short of astonishing.

But Infidel is much more than the sum of the topics that are usually ignored or obfuscated, and that it dares to depict. Infidel is, above all, a terrific story, well-acted and superbly presented – a story of love, of passion, of hatred, of commitment, of self-sacrifice, and much more. I would have written that they don’t make them like this anymore, but clearly, as long as Cyrus Nowrasteh is writing, directing, and producing movies, they still do.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 21 books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is Rating America’s Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.

 

MIKE PENCE VS KAMALA HARRIS VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

★★★ A NEW CONSERVATIVE AGE IS RISING ★★★

Mike Pence utterly HUMILIATES and DESTROYS Kamala Harris in the Vice-Presidential DEBATE as nationalist populism wins BIG! In this video, we’re going to look at some of the best highlights of the debate, how Mike Pence not only dominated but exposed the radical Biden-Harris agenda, and how a new nationalist-populist paradigm was ultimately the biggest winner of them all; you are not going to want to miss this!