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I was distressed to learn from Phoebe this morning that Cardinal Raymond Burke, who was kicked upstairs to the Vatican some years ago after he refused to allow abortion-happy Democrat politicians to take communion in his church, was this year demoted about as far down the ladder as they could push him.
It shouldn’t surprise us. There’s no way a faithful servant of God can prosper under the Red Pope, Francis I. Cardinal Burke had several times publicly rebuked the pope for his habit of playing hooky from orthodox Catholic teaching–and from the Word of God itself, as given to us in the Bible. Burke has always stood tall for the Bible. Especially on issues of sexual morality, where the Red Pope is infamously wobbly.
The good news is that Cardinal Burke is down but not out. He refuses to keep silence, and European newspapers seek him out for views and comments. In other words, he’d better watch his topknot.
A similar fate overtook another hero of the church, Peter Akinola, former head of the Anglican Communion in Nigeria, former Archbishop of Abuja. For years, Archbishop Akinola fought for God’s law as more and more of the Anglican Communion plunged itself into rebellion against the Lord for the benefit of sodomy, preferring to seek the favor of this world. In 2009 Archbishop Akinola was one of a multitude of Christian leaders who signed the Manhattan Declaration–for obedience to God’s word, against obedience to the world’s drive for “inclusion” and “affirmation.” In 2010 he was “retired” from all his leadership positions within the church.
Lest we Protestants sneer at Catholics and Anglicans for punishing their prophets for speaking truth instead of lies, we ought to inquire more closely into the workings of our own flatline denominations. Check out what our seminaries are getting up to: inventing new “theologies” by the day, and thumbing their noses at the Bible. Drop in on the next Presbyterian Church USA General Assembly–we never know what to expect from one of those.
When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith in the Earth?
Depends on where you look, O Lord. It depends on where you look.
That’s a very powerful post, Lee.
It happens in the Protestant world too. I’ve heard tales of sincere church leaders persecuted from within when they dared to stand up for God’s word, over the writings of men. The point here, is that humans, all humans, need to remember that they owe exclusive worship to their Creator and that any church, or other group which claims leadership in worship should never become so influential that it can divert fealty to itself. If there were any such thing as a religious group that was doing everything right, even they do not deserve devotion, which is reserved, exclusively, for God Almighty.
And here we have the flip side of that same ‘red coin’:
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/pope-francis-vatican-recalls-pedophile-priest-us-justice-department-moved-charge-child-pornography/
It would appear that the Vatican has been infiltrated.
Many churches have been infiltrated. Once you start slinging God’s word out the door, there’s no easy stopping point.
That’s why it’s so important for Christians from all backgrounds to get together and stick together. The body of Christ is the true church–not a bunch of buildings.
Amen, Lee.
I believe with all of my heart, that upon Christ’s return, the proper course of action will be obvious to all sincere worshippers of the One True God and we will know what to do. Denominations have existed for a long time, sometimes leading their devotees away from God with traditions and false teachings. Sometimes misleading good and sincere people. When push comes to shove, I expect that this will become meaningless, because the Christ will gather the sheep.
John 10:4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
Amen! (Plus absolutely perfect Scripture reference)
For years, I’ve wrangled with the subject of denominationalism. I don’t agree with the concept of denominational Christianity and yet I see sincere, decent Christians in many denominations. I’ve come to peace on the issue because of that one verse.
There are persistent voices which have claimed that the preisthood is filled with people whose agenda includes using their positions of trust as a way to sexually abuse children. I have no firsthand information, so cannot comment on the veracity of such claims. I am aware, however, that persons given to such sexual abuse have been known to gravitate towards situations which give them access to youths, so the claim is not all that far-fetched, in my opinion.
In high school, one of my friends witnessed to me about living for Christ when he saw I was starting to hang around with the popular kids. A couple of years ago I got in touch with this friend who is now the Dean of the Faculty at Princeton Seminary. I tried to turn him on to R. J. Rushdoony and her tried to turn me on to Karl Barth.
So he made out all right, did he?
Not really. I bought his book and discovered he is a liberal – you know, socialism is the answer to establishing the kingdom of God.
I guess that’s why socialism always works so well.