E.T., DARWIN AND THE POPE

The Lord has graciously given me a burden for the lost. And, I suppose because I used to be one, I have huge burden for even the sincerest of Roman Catholics. Not that they are more deserving of God's grace than others. It's just that I can easily relate with them.

The Lord opened my heart to the truth of the gospel ten years ago. That changed everything for me. Over the years my concern has increased for those who adhere to what the Vatican has self-proclaimed to be "The Mother Church".

So when I come across news articles relating to what comes out of the Vatican these days, I pay close attention. Wednesday's news story from the Associated Press got my attention...and ire.

The news article headlines the latest from Rome with : "The Vatican looks to heavens for signs of alien life".

The story reports that "the Vatican has called in experts to study the possiblility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.

"Thirty scientists, including non-Catholics, from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Chile, attended the conference, called to explore among other issues 'whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds'.

"Earlier this year, the Vatican also sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species'."

Let me say first that I do not believe there is anything wrong with people wondering if extraterrestial aliens exist in unknown parts of the universe. We cannot be absolutely certain unless we see them or true signs of them. Only God knows for sure because if they do exist, it's because He would have created them.

I do wonder, however, why the Vatican is so concerned about the question that they would sponsor a conference bringing in scientists from all over the world to study the possibility of aliens existing and what the implications would be for the Catholic Church if they did exist.

Implications for the Catholic Church?? What about the whole world?

But even if it were discovered that aliens do exist, (and that would be an amazing discovery) how would that in any way change man's need for salvation? How would that change man's need to be born again? How would that change man's need to repent of their sins and trust in the Savior?

How would the existence of aliens change man's need for the unchangeable gospel of Jesus Christ and adherence to it?

Then again, the Catholic Church does preach a different gospel . So it should come as no surprise that they would spend all that money, time and energy on the unknown as they have in past times spent money, time and energy rejecting what had previously been known as truth from the Word of God until, that is, Charles Darwin happened along.

Last May the Vatican sponsored, yet, another conference to mark, celebrate and support the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution as published in "The Origin of Species". The Vatican has always been open about its acceptance of Darwin's theory being a plausible one right from the 'Big Bang' on.

By doing so, however, the Vatican openly rejects the literal Genesis account of creation, an account given directly to man by God through His Holy Word, the Bible. The Vatican has traded the truth of God's Word for a lie. A lie conceived by a mere man, a self proclaimed atheist, no less.

Then what of the gospel? If the Vatican chooses to teach heretical theories over the true Word of God regarding the Genesis account of creation, how can they be trusted to truthfully teach the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to their flock?

I have witnessed to a myriad of catholics over the years. And like I used to, they offer a great array of means by which they will make it into Heaven.

And not once did I ever hear that it would be solely by the grace of God through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross, His death and His resurrection. No talk of the need to be born again. No talk of repentance and faith in Christ alone.

Their faith is based upon their own goodness through charitable works, religious rituals and tradtions, being free of 'mortal' sins, the interceding of the Virgin Mary, saints and, most of all, the false security in the unbiblical myth of Purgatory.

And now, as the Pope is busy trying to find aliens in space, the Mother Ship continues to distract and alienate their followers further from the truth of God's Word and, subsequently, God Himself. That has eternal consequences.

Neither adhering to becoming you, from goo, by way of the zoo or by actually finding E.T. in a distant galaxy, negates the fact that people here on earth need to hear the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ just as it is written the the Holy Word of God - the Bible!

That is why genuine Christians must always to be ready to lovingly, compassionately share the true gospel of Jesus to Roman Catholics. We must warn them that they cannot assume that just because they have been baptized into catholicism or that they faithfully practice their religion, that they are destined for Heaven.

Roman Catholics are very sincere people for the most part. But from my experience with them, I have found that they have almost no knowledge of the Bible. Most don't read it at all. They just get their weekly morsel of Scripture at their mass, go through their man-made rituals, traditions and prayers and that's that until the following week.

Please, pray that the Lord would bless you with opportunities to share the gospel truth with those of the Roman Catholic faith be they friend or family. With love and gentleness, reach out to those whom you know who are under the Pope and not under grace.

And should it be that some are drawn by God to true repentance and faith in Christ, they can later decide for themselves if everything else from Darwin to E.T. is really all that important afterall.

BAD NEWS FIRST PLEASE

HT: diligentile

BACKGROUND TO WASHER'S SHOCKING YOUTH MESSAGE

In this short interview, Paul Washer gives backstage information that compelled him to preach the way he did in what has become one of the most controversial, blunt and, therefore, powerful gospel presentations to an audience of 5000 at a youth conference a few years ago.

It has become known all over as "The Shocking Youth Message". If you are one who has yet to see it, then I highly reccommend you take the time to watch it.

Here is the background story:


And here is the classic sermon:



HT: I'll Be Honest

85 MILLION DOLLAR HEIST FROM EVANGELISTS' CAR

Ottawa Police are not initiating a massive search for a daring thief who, during the dark of night, broke into the car of street evangelists Paul and Kim Latour and made off with the hefty sum of $85 million cash, in 1 million dollar denominations, that the Latours secretly kept in the glove compartment of their car.

The couple were giddy and absolutely delighted when they discovered what had been stolen. They are hoping that when the thief discovers what he had taken were actually Christian gospel tracts, that he would read one of them.

And they hope when he got to the part that asks if he had ever stolen anything, that he would have "a lightbulb moment" and be convicted.

Following that, they pray that he would read on to find out how he can escape the wrath of God for doing such a dastardly deed (among the millions of his others) and be saved.

Though there were other material items the culprit could have taken (like a huge open tray of 1 and 2 dollar coins - real money - that the Latours use for parking downtown on their "fishing excursions") nothing else was stolen.

The Ottawa Police officer who took the report could not contain his laughter when he was told what the thief took. He said "The guy must have thought he hit the mother lode, and took off as fast as he could without bothering to search for anything else that might have been of value to him."

Laughter subsided, the victims are now praying for the thief that he would come to repentance and faith in Christ, and then unselfishly hand out the remaining million dollar bills to 84 of his closest friends.

They noted, saying: "God has a wonderful sense of humor!"

A DECADE OF SAVING GRACE

Sunday,
October 31, 1999

Hallowe'en.

Reformation Day.

The day of my second birth!!

I'll Never Forget It

Challenged for a second time by those who loved me enough to encourage me (fight with me) to sit through a sermon I did not want to hear, in a church I did not want to be in. In the middle of the sermon, the gospel being faithfully preached, it happened.

No fireworks. No cartwheels. No cheers.

Just a very sudden and sheer, sheer conviction of who I was standing before a thrice Holy God, my Creator and Judge, without Christ. For the first time in my 44 years, my eyes were miraculously opened and I saw myself as God had always seen me: a vile creature of a man, dripping in all my sin, full of self-righteousness and deserving of eternal punishment in hell.

The 'Good Person Mask' I had been wearing all my life fell off my face that Hallowe'en day. The Holy Spirit exposed to me who and what I truly was in the eyes of God and what I had done to deserve His eternal wrath.

I hated God.

I worshipped idols.

I cursed with God's name.

I made no time for Him.

I dishonored my parents.

I was a murderer at heart.

I was an adulterer.

I was a thief.

I was a liar.

I was a covetor.

At that moment, I knew something had happened inside me. I knew God did something in my heart. It had been dead but he made it come alive! He had turned it from a heart of stone and into a heart of flesh!

I went home. Went upstairs. Went into my room. Shut the door. Fell flat on my face. I pleaded with God to forgive me for all that I had done to violate His laws and save me. I pleaded for Christ to be my one and only Lord and Savior.

GOD WAS GRACIOUS TO SAVE ME!!!!

JESUS SUFFERED AND DIED FOR ME!!!

MY SINS WERE PAID FOR!!!

I WAS SET FREE!!!

And so began my new journey. Life for me, from then on, was going to be a bed of roses. At least, so I thought. Little did I know what how much dross I carried that still needed to be burned off and the hardship it would bring in the process.

Life has been far from perfect in the course of my last 10 years. Up and down I went. Even with the blessing of joy in knowing that I was a child of God, fully forgiven, immersed in His Word, in Christian fellowship, with a sense of calling to witness, I found myself struggling with certain sins I had only pretended I had conquered.

Days of blessing, nights of discipline. Lightness of heart, darkness of soul.

But God was merciful. A time had come when He, finally, delivered me from my particular sins that kept me from fully loving Him, fully serving Him with all my heart and being all that I could have been to those I loved. I had learned my lessons, as usual, the hard way.

"But where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20)

Still imperfect to this day,and that until glory, yet, I have been richly blessed. And God is still so patient with me, so kind to me and He continues to help me grow in this process called "sanctification" one day at a time.

GOD saved me! GOD SAVED me! GOD SAVED ME!

How could that be?

Moreso, HOW CAN I KEEP QUIET ABOUT IT?

HOW CAN I WITHOLD THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S SAVING GRACE TO OTHERS WHO ARE AS LOST TODAY AS I WAS UP UNTIL A DECADE AGO??

God willing, there will be only one thing that will ever stop me from giving the gospel in the public square or anywhere else: my physical death.

Rejoice with me, my fellow Christians! Rejoice, NOT because of me, but because of what CHRIST did for me! Because of what He has done for all of us on that terrible cross.

Celebrate by going out in the public square and proclaim Christ as your Savior and proclaim the gospel to the lost of this world! Give God the glory He deserves! Make everyday count for Him!

We'll celebrate later when we are all together in Heaven at the great wedding feast of Christ and His bride, whom He made beautiful!

Until then, if given to me, I pray the next 10 years, and the rest of my time on earth, to be of greater devotion and service to the Lord of my life, the lover of my soul , my wonderful Savior, my kinsman Redeemer, my ever gracious and sovereign Father.

ALL GLORY TO GOD, forever and ever!

AMEN!

KIM'S FIRST CROSS WITNESS - H1N1

VERNON'S CROSS FACTORY OUTLET

What a delight THIS was to see today!

I will let you check it out for yourself on Proclaiming the Truth blog.

Vernon Costolo, of Huntington, West Virginia, applied his woodworking skills to the construction of a number of "Are You Ready" crosses for himself and his evangelism team.

He posted the step by step assembly guide on his blog the same day cross concept originator, Tony Miano, posted his step by step guide to constructing the kind of cross he carries.

If you are a "cross bearer", and you have not yet done so, make sure to get your name included on Tony's cross bearer list here at The Lawman Chronicles.

It will be interesting to find out how many street evangelists have implimented this wonderful concept into their gospel work on the street.

Great work, Vernon!