Lawyers demand Kayanja’s testimony

FIRST READ:

Pastor Robert Kayanja's “Image” and the Arrest of Pastor Solomon Male


http://www.yesumulungi.com/index.php/commentaries/443-pastor-robert-kayanjas-image-and-the-arrest-of-pastor-solomon-male.html


Lawyers demand Kayanja’s testimony


http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/755736

Wednesday, 25th May, 2011

Bt Adante Okanya

LAWYERS representing the six people accused of tarnishing Pastor Robert Kayanja’s reputation yesterday demanded that court summons him to testify to help speed up the trial.


The lawyers on the defence team were Paul Rutisya, Kato Ssekabanja, Francis Gimara, Edward Akankwasa and Isaac Walukagga.


The state prosecutor, Stephen Asaba, said Kayanja was on the list of over 10 witnesses whom prosecution intended to summon.


“Defense has no right to direct us. They need not worry. Kayanja will come and testify,” Asaba said.


The accused are pastors Solomon Male of Arising for Christ Ministries, Martin Sempa of Makerere Community Church, plus Michael Kyazze and Robert Kayiira of Omega Healing Centre. Others are State House employee Dorothy Kyomuhendo and local musician David Mukalazi.


Yesterday, the trial resumed at the Buganda Road Court before Grade One Magistrate Patrick Wekesa. The lawyers want Kayanja to explain the circumstances under which his reputation was injured.


Prosecution alleges that in 2008, the accused “conspired to cause injury to the personality and reputation” of Pastor Kayanja by saying he participates in homosexuality.


Walukagga argued that summoning Kayanja would save court’s time since he is the main complainant. “Why is prosecution fishing for witnesses who are not the complainant? The complainant needs to testify. We want the big fish,” he said.


Wekesa said he could not issue summons for Kayanja because the “case belongs to the prosecution” and that if he did, he would be perceived as biased.

Crystal Cathedral Plans to Sell Church to Exit Bankruptcy

Crystal Cathedral Plans to Sell Church to Exit Bankruptcy

http://www.christianpost.com/news/crystal-cathedral-up-for-sale-to-end-debt-woes-50573/

By Alison Matheson | Christian Post Correspondent

The Crystal Cathedral is being put on the market as the church seeks a way out of its crippling debt.


The Orange County church is hoping the sale of its imposing glass building will generate enough revenue to save it from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and make good with some 550 creditors.

It has been looking for an exit strategy from its financial woes ever since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October.

The reorganization plan includes the sale of the 40-acre campus to a real estate group with a guaranteed option of leasing it back for 15 years.

After four years, the church would have the option of buying back the Crystal Cathedral, the 13-story Tower of Hope, the welcome center and the cemetery.

Not part of the buy-back deal, however, is the Family Life Center, the campus’s four-story office building that is already up for sale.


Creditors and vendors are still waiting for a combined total of $7.5 million in overdue payments from the church, which it has promised to re-pay in the next 42 months.

No details have been given about potential buyers or the sale price. The Southern California megachurch, whose founder is Robert H. Schuller, is set to be considered at a June 1 hearing.

Church spokesman John Charles told the LA Times: “It’s great news. It gives us the opportunity to pay everybody off and start fresh.”

The Crystal Cathedral will still continue its ministry, which includes worship services, community outreach programs and the weekly Hour of Power broadcast, uninterrupted.

Sheila Schuller Coleman, senior pastor and daughter of the founder, expressed optimism in the new plan, noting that paying back the creditors has been a top priority and that this is the chance to finally do so.

“We are pleased that we are able to honor the debt that we have incurred and to honor the creditors who are due their payment,” she said in a statement.

"The Crystal Cathedral Ministries would like to thank our church members and friends around the world who have given from their hearts to help rebuild a solid foundation from which we can continue our ministry and launch the new vision for the Crystal Cathedral Ministries."

The new vision includes stepping up community outreach efforts such as feeding the hungry and providing resources for job searches.

INSIDE EDITION Investigates TV Ministers' Lifestyles

INSIDE EDITION Investigates TV Ministers' Lifestyles

http://www.insideedition.com/news/6332/inside-edition-investigates-tv-ministers-lifestyles.aspx

Air date: 5/24/2011

They are some of the most popular TV preachers in the country, packing their mega churches each week and taking in millions every year. They urge the faithful followers to donate generously and in return the Lord will bring them prosperity.


There's no denying some people have prospered handsomely—the pastors themselves. They live like rock stars with huge mansions, private jets, and fancy cars. Their lifestyles are so lavish, six of them have been investigated by the U.S. Senate.


One preacher, Paula White, lives in multimillion dollar homes in New York City and Tampa, Florida. And another preacher, Creflo Dollar, gets around in style, flying in private jets to preach around the country. He owns a mansion in an exclusive Atlanta suburb.



Not one of them would would sit down for an interview about their opulent lifestyle so INSIDE EDITION's Lisa Guerrero caught up with Creflo Dollar at an event in New York City. She asked him, "How do you justify your million dollar mansions and private jets to your donors?" Dollar had no comment.


But when it comes to opulence, few religious leaders compare to Kenneth Copeland. He lives in an 18,000 square foot home outside Ft. Worth, Texas worth $6 million. It has beautiful water views that comes complete with a boat house. But that's not all.


Copeland is an avid pilot, and his pride and joy is a $20 million Cessna Citation jet. It's the fastest private jet money can buy. He said he needed it to better serve the Lord, and proudly did a fly by for his followers after the church bought it.


But that's not the only plane used by the church. We found a fleet of planes registered to the church. And you won't catch him waiting in line at the airport, because he's got his own. The Kenneth Copeland Airport is located right next to his mansion.


"I think Copeland is unbelievably greedy", said Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation, a church watchdog group that worked with the Senate Committee investigating Copeland and other TV


"Televangelism is a $2 to $3 billion industry, untaxed, unregulated," said Anthony.


That's right—by law, religious groups like Copeland's are exempt from federal taxes, and they don't have to report how they spend their money to anyone.


Copeland and his church takes in tens of millions a year, through donations and selling books and DVD's to his donors.

When Kristi Parker's mother died of cancer, she said she found diaries that showed her mother sent Copeland most of her life's savings, hoping her faith and donations would heal her deadly disease.


"She sent them a lot of money, a whole lot of money", said Parker.


Guerrero asked Parker, "What do you think of Kenneth Copeland's lifestyle?"


"TV doesn't do it justice. Their office furniture is probably worth more than most people's houses. It make you sick." said Parker.

Copeland, like the other preachers investigated by the Senate, refused INSIDE EDITION's request for an interview, so we caught up with him at an event in North Carolina.


Guerrero asked, "Can you explain to us why you are living such a lifestyle of luxury off of church donations?"


An assistant to Copeland said, "We don't have any time for this," and tried to usher Copeland away. At the same time a hotel employee tried to block our camera.


Guerrero continued to try to get answers from Copeland.

"Why won't you answer any of our questions? It's a simple questions, sir," said Guerrero.


Copeland then agreed to chat and said, "I'm going to give you a simple answer. My life follows scripture. We've never asked anyone for money. We give. We believe we're open."


Guerrero then asked, "Sir, you have a fleet of private jets. Why is that necessary? How many jets do you have?"

Copeland answered, "That's none of your business."


Right after that he walked away.

Why people stick by scandal-plagued pastors

Why people stick by scandal-plagued pastors


http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/05/27/church.scandal/index.html?hpt=C2


By John Blake, CNN


May 27, 2011 -- Updated 1352 GMT (2152 HKT)

(CNN) -- The streets that were once choked with traffic are now bare. The church's sprawling parking lot is half full. Inside the stylish sanctuary, ushers sway to choir music in front of empty seats.

On a typical Sunday morning, New Birth Missionary Church in suburban Atlanta would be hopping. But on a recent Sunday, the sprawling church complex looked half-deserted and the mood seemed flat.

Six months after a sex scandal involving New Birth's senior pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, became public, the megachurch no longer packs them in. Yet there are loyalists, like C.D. Dixon, who have not joined the exodus.

"I come back to the church even more now because the word is more powerful," she said as she stood with a serene smile in the parking lot before a recent service.
Last fall, four young men accused Long of using his spiritual authority to pressure them into sexual relationships, charges that Long has vehemently denied. On Thursday, lawyers for the four men released a statement saying only that "the matter has been resolved."

Belief Blog: Bishop Eddie Long settles with accusers
For Dixon, though, the allegations only make Long's sermons more powerful.
"The cry from the bishop's belly is more now. We're not dealing with right or wrong. We're dealing with God's deliverance. I don't know if that makes sense to you."
For some, it doesn't. While most church scandals revolve around the conduct of a pastor, there's another question lurking behind the headlines that onlookers often ask: Why do some people stick by their pastor even when everyone else in the church seems to be leaving?

Building a firewall


Some do it because they've placed a "spiritual firewall" around their pastor, and in their own mind, said Sue Thompson, a professional speaker who attended a church that disintegrated after a pastor's extramarital affair was exposed.
We were on the front page for all of the wrong reasons.
--Janet Shan, on megachurch destroyed by pastor scandals.

She said some parishioners cannot leave a pastor because they credit him or her with a life-changing event, such as inspiring them to overcome drug addiction or turning around a disastrous marriage.


To accept such a pastor's guilt, she said, would lead them to contemplate another possibility: Is my life-changing event just as fraudulent as the pastor who inspired it?

"There is a suspension of common sense, a refusal to put two and two together," Thompson said. "For a lot of people, this is the man who gave them the keys to a whole new way of living. They can't separate the good they received from the man himself, so they feel it would be a betrayal to turn on him now."

When outsiders ratchet up criticism against an embattled pastor, members often go into battle mode, said Thompson, author of "The Prodigal Brother: Making Peace with Your Parents, Your Past, and the Wayward One in Your Family."

"They circle the wagons to protect their guy," Thompson said. "They don't want to see, and they don't want to be made to see what 'the world' sees. They believe the world's view is false, so they form the firewall."

Conditioned by the language of persecution

Some parishioners can't let go because of their reading of the Bible, a religion scholar said.

The Bible is full of persecution stories: The Egyptian oppression of the Israelites, the persecution of Jesus. Some pastors who are frequent targets for criticism condition their followers to stick by them no matter what by invoking these stories, said Jonathan Walton, an assistant professor of religion at Harvard Divinity School in Massachusetts.

Parishioners rallied around televangelist Jim Bakker for years before a scandal destroyed the pastor's ministry.

"Many of these churches are conditioned to be under scrutiny," Walton said. "They view themselves as saints living in exile in the world. Nobody at the end of the day wants to be labeled Judas or, God forbid, Peter, the one who denied the faith at the moment of persecution."

The persecution mentality can take on another dimension when race is added to the mix, said Marla Frederick, author of "Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith."

African-American history is filled with examples of charismatic black religious figures -- the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; Malcolm X; Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam -- who were targeted by shadowy political forces trying to discredit them, Frederick said.

"At the time, it was seen as a white racist society trying to dismantle a strong black organization," Frederick said. "They didn't like to see black men being successful. People felt like there were larger political forces at work."
'Watching a train wreck every Sunday morning'

Sometimes, people stick by an embattled pastor for voyeuristic reasons -- they like watching "train wrecks," said one sociologist who has studied megachurches.
Shayne Lee, a sociologist and co-author of "Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace," said some parishioners see scandal as a spiritual spectacle. They view themselves as participants in a cosmic struggle.

"When you have a spiritual world view that emphasizes the power of the Holy Spirit and you see all these dynamic tensions in church, it's exciting to see the forces of evil and the power of God at work," Lee said. "There's a certain dynamism that's attractive and keeps people coming back."

And then some parishioners won't let preacher scandals drive them away because they say that the message they receive is more important than the vessel that delivers it.
Thomas Kirkpatrick cited that rationale as he walked to New Birth for Sunday service. He shrugged at the allegations surrounding Long.

Long publicly denied the sexual coercion claims, and compared himself to David fighting Goliath. The scandal's impact on New Birth, though, may already be apparent. Attendance has dropped, staff is being laid off and Long recently announced that he would take a salary cut.

A New Birth spokesman attributed the changes to a sour economy and said the declining attendance is the result of more people watching the church service online.
None of this appeared to matter to Kirkpatrick. He said Long would have to answer to God, not him.

"I don't think Bishop Long can do anything worse than what Judas did, and God still loved him," Kirkpatrick said.

Kirkpatrick compared pastors to doctors.


"There are people who we trust with our lives every day, like doctors, who do all sorts of things, but we don't question them. This is our spiritual medicine. We come here to get what we need and then we leave."

When asked if there was anything that would cause him to stop attending New Birth, Kirkpatrick lowered his head and paused before he finally said:
"The church would have to close."

Breaking through the firewall


They believe the world's view is false so they form a firewall.
-- Susan Thompson, Christian author, on parishioners who stick by scandal-plagued pastors no matter what
Janet Shan said she couldn't wait that long at her former church. She wrote an online essay about the emotional whiplash she experienced when her church became engulfed in scandal.

Shan was a regular attendee at Chapel Hill Harvester Church, an Atlanta megachurch whose pastor was caught in a sex scandal that involved several women. The church was eventually forced to sell its massive cathedral and close.
When the media first reported the women's accusations, the church's pastor, Bishop Earl Paulk, denied allegations.

He also invoked scripture.

"He blamed it all on Satan," said Shan, a freelance writer and editor of an online magazine, The Hinterland Gazette.

Shan said she didn't initially believe the accusations because she thought the women had ulterior motives. But as more accusations surfaced, she became suspicious.
So did many in the congregation. She said the church pews started emptying "faster than someone yelling fire." Those remaining began arguing among themselves. Church leaders vanished from the pulpit without explanation, she said.

"People were devastated," Shan said. "There was a feeling of defeat in the atmosphere. We were on the front page for all of the wrong reasons."
The allegations over Paulk's sexual indiscretions made headlines for over a decade. One accuser said Paulk molested her when she was a child. That allegation ended in a civil suit that was settled out of court.

During a deposition in another suit filed by a woman, Paulk said under oath that he had slept with only one woman outside of marriage. A court-ordered paternity test then revealed that he had also fathered a child with his brother's wife.
Paulk eventually pleaded guilty to lying under oath, and was fined $1,000 and placed on probation for 10 years. He died in 2009 at 81 from cancer.

Shan left Paulk's church, but like others who had abandoned churches rocked by scandal, it took time to recover.
"I didn't go to church for a year or two," she said. "I've lowered my expectations for pastors."

Trying to persuade a parishioner to leave is difficult, though, said Thompson, the professional speaker who left her own embattled church.
"It cannot be done by simply showing the person who still believes in the charlatan 'the truth' about him," she said. "It can't be done by ridiculing and dismissing the person's faith in the man. It is done by sincere biblical discussions, talking about the red flags that everyone saw but many were ignoring."
Thompson said church members must ultimately learn two lessons: The message must be disconnected from the messenger, and "psychopaths and narcissists live in the church world, too."
Then again, that still might not be enough, she said.
"For a lot of people, it will take catching the guy in the act -- he runs off with church money, he goes to jail, he's caught on film with a prostitute," she said. "And even then, some are so fundamentally misinformed about concepts of forgiveness and judgment that they blindly go on supporting him."

Un like the Unrepentant False Prophet Harold Camping, Ugandan doomsday pastor apologizes to Christians

Kasese doomsday pastor apologises to Christians


http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1170264/-/c0ydcsz/-/index.html

By Thembo Kahungu Misairi

Posted Friday, May 27 2011 at 00:00

A pastor in Kasese District, who claimed the world would end on May 21, has apologised to residents. Pastor Isaac Muhindo, who has since early last year been moving around the district, spreading his doomsday massage, said he was ashamed of his act.

“I want to apologise to the people of Kasese and whoever heard my messages about the end of the world. I am very sorry for the inconveniences because I followed false prophets,” Pastor Muhindo said on Wednesday in his message sent to the media.

Many people in the district and the country at large spent the whole of Saturday waiting for the end of the world as presumed by Pastor Herold Camping, a California-based evangelist.

Camping’s followers had told people that at 6pm there would be an earthquake that would cause the world to end and usher in Judgment Day.

Repentance
Pastor Muhindo said: “I am ready to go back to my church and repent for misleading the people of God and I am now going to follow the scriptures seriously without wrong interpretations.”

Last year, Pastor Muhindo was denied airtime at most local radio stations in Kasese to preach his alleged end of the world on May 21.

Panic gripped some people in Kasese after the predicted doomsday was characterised by a heavy downpour that started at 2pm and ended after 7pm.

Ms Gertrude Masika, a shopkeeper in Kasese town, said she did not open her shop on May 21 out of fear that the world would end.

“I thought even customers could not come on that day and I decided to remain home because customers were unlikely to appear as they waited to see the end of the world,” she said.



No shame, no apologies: Harold Camping says new Judgment Day is on October 21


http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/150713/20110524/harold-camping-may-21st-doomsday-wrong-prediction-october-21-2011-judgment-day-rapture-false-prophet.htm

By Jijo Jacob | May 24, 2011 12:16 PM EDT

The incorrigible false prophet of the May 21st Doomsday theory, Oakland preacher Harold Camping, is far from being a changed man after he bit the dust for a second time and his prediction took a place among the most opprobrious jokes in history.
Making a public appearance for the first time after his prediction of the Christian rapture failed last Saturday, Camping said the catastrophic earthquake and the apocalypse will come on October 21, 2011.

"The whole world is under Judgment Day and it will continue right up until Oct. 21, 2011 and by that time the whole world will be destroyed," Camping said.
The unrepentant minister did not make any apology even after a member of his inner coterie had suggested that he owed at least an apology to the public. He also abdicated all responsibility for ruining the lives of many hundreds of his followers who disposed of their properties thinking that the world was going to end on May 21.
Instead, Camping put some more brave but vicious spin on the whole joke, saying that the rapture did indeed take place, but in a spiritual sense. Many observers had predicted that Camping would likely say this once the promised Armageddon fails to show up.

"On May 21, this last weekend, this is where the spiritual aspect of it really comes through. God again brought judgment on the world. We didn’t see any difference but God brought Judgment Day to bear upon the whole world."

According to his earlier prediction, the judgment day would have unfolded in two neatly planned phases; the rapture on May 21, 2011 and the final annihilation of the world on October 21. The quake/flood juggernaut would have selectively destroyed/saved those who come in its path according to his original theory. He has made some modifications now, saying that the two will be clubbed and that the double whammy will hit us on October 21!

Camping had predicted that around 200 million people from across the world, the selected believers whose time had come to be reunited with Jesus Christ, will be ruptured to heaven on May 21 as Earth would be shaken up and flattened by a massive earthquake that would hid hit each region of the world at 6 P.M. local time. The rapture is the Biblical belief that Jesus Christ will arrive in a Second Coming to carry the believers up to heaven.

Camping's lack of repentance and insistence that rapture did take place do not surprise many though. Observers had expected Camping to put some spin on the mother of all goof-ups and get on with life as usual.

The consensus among observers is that the expensive joke played by the Family Radio leader is not the end of the story. Cults like Doomsday groups are not known to giving it up and turning a page once they end up with pie on the face. Nor are they known for being rational. They regroup around another false belief, get themselves teflon-coated against criticism and lampoon.

Now he says the end of the world will take place on October 21, the new Judgment Day. Camping had said a rolling earthquake will devastate the world on May 21, 2011 and those left behind will end up as victims of the final, all-encompassing destruction six months later, on October 21. Now that the May 21 doomsday prediction has bombed, he has just changed the date. Will there be any takers for yet another irresponsible prediction from someone who has zero credibility?

Camping also deserted his followers, whose plight had painted the picture of human tragedy around the whimsical doomsday prediction. He said he was not responsible for the bad judgment his followers made about the Judgment Day. “They should have relied on God and not me ... Family Radio is not in the business of financial advice," he said.

He is certainly not the herdsman who would guide 200 million people through a blissful rapture to heaven, but someone who would throw his lamb to the wolf!
However, experts have always said it's far too early to conclude the doomsday theorists will fade away in their shame. "If you have a strong leader, the group survives," according to a professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal. "Sometimes the group falls apart. Most often, the answer given by the group is that the prophecy is true, but the interpretation was wrong," Lorenzo DiTommaso was quoted in LiveScience article.

It is also pointed out that failed predictions lead to the mushrooming of sects, as divergent thinking gets articulated by splinter groups. If this happens with Harold camping's followers, probably the world can expect more doomsday predictions. But the catch is that they first they have to regroup and shore up their battered finances.

The true impact of the botched prediction that the world would end was devastating for some followers. There were people who sold their entire savings to live up the last days on earth and then rapture to heaven. Now, they will have to take care of rather more mundane realities -- like finding a house to stay and paying bills.
The much-publicized case of Robert Fitzpatrick best explained the human tragedy of a whimsical prediction. Fitzpatrick, a retired transport worker, had spent as much as $140,000 to advertise the doom. And there are many like him.

The media has always treated the doomsday soothsayer with a mix of ridicule and scorn and dissected the end of the world prediction to shreds, showing how whimsical and fallacious a theory it is -- far from being the infallible theory which is guaranteed by Bible as Camping puts it. However, false prophets continue to have a lot of gullible people eating out of their hands.


New deadline set for the end of the world


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/new-deadline-set-for-the-end-of-the-world-20110524.html

By Gaby Leslie | Yahoo! News – Tue, May 24, 2011


Evangelical priest Harold Camping has set a new date for the world’s end as he backtracked from a prediction that ‘Judgement Day’ was supposed to come last Saturday.


The US Christian, who made headlines for his outlandish claim that a selected 200 million of the world’s population would be raptured, has now marked 21 October 2011 in his calendar as the real date for the apocalypse.


The 89-year-old had previously stated that an earthquake – bigger than anything ever felt before - would strike each corner of the planet by 6pm local time on Saturday 21 May.


But according to Camping’s new end of world forecast, the globe will actually be engulfed by a huge fireball - exactly five months after the botched doomsday prediction.


Speaking of the failed ‘Judgement Day’ on his radio show last night, he claimed that 21 May 2011 was just an ‘invisible judgement day’ and that he understood it as a spiritual, rather than physical event.


After hiding in a motel for two days, the Californian preacher admitted his Bible-based calculations were incorrect.


He said he believed rapture didn’t come because God decided to spare humanity five months of “hell on earth.”


During his hour-and-a-half radio broadcast, he said: “It won’t be spiritual on 21 October. The world is going to be destroyed all together, but it will be very quick.”


Unfortunately for some doomsday believers, who had spent their time preparing for Saturday’s cataclysmic event by selling their homes and assets, Camping showed no signs of remorse.


One naive follower Robert Fitzpatrick, a retired transport worker put all his faith into Camping’s claims and had spent as much as $140,000 (£86,000) to advertise the doomsday prediction.


Camping told his listeners: “We just had a great recession. There's lots of people who lost their jobs, lots of people who lost their houses... and somehow they all survived.”


“They should have relied on God and not me ... Family Radio is not in the business of financial advice”.


Camping also inaccurately prophesied that the end of the world would occur back in 1994.He reportedly got the date wrong then due to a ‘mathematical error’.

“Blessed” or Cursed John Paul II?His Papal Beatification


by Shaun Willcock


The previous pope of Rome, John Paul II, was beatified on the 1st May by his successor, Benedict XVI, in a lavish and globally-visible ceremony at the Vatican, six years after his death on the 2nd April2005. It was, in the words of the director of the Vatican newspaper, “a historic event which has no precedent.” Internationally, Roman Catholics welcomed the beatification, and informally he was already being called, by Roman Catholics and many others, “Pope John Paul the Great.” Beatification is the penultimate step to canonisation; and to be canonised means to be declared a “saint” within the Roman Catholic religion. What does all this mean? Try to follow carefully now, for it’s complicated and completely unbiblical, but you need to grasp it:


Who are Saints, and Who Goes to Heaven?


The very first thing to understand is the difference between Roman Catholicism and the true teaching of the Bible on heaven, and who goes there. According to Rome, only those in heaven are, strictly speaking, “saints”. And what’s more, the moment the average Papist dies, he does not go to heaven immediately, but to purgatory – an invented place, a non-existent place with absolutely no scriptural support, a place in fact which the Papists adopted from the teachings of ancient heathenism. Only a very few Papists supposedly ever bypass purgatory and go directly to heaven when they die, and it is these extraordinary few who are declared to be “saints” by Rome. The teaching of the Bible is very different. Biblically, every single person who is converted is a “saint”. Saints are simply Christians.


Saints are not dead people whom Rome pompously pronounces to be “saints”, but true believers, whether living on earth or living in heaven. In Phil. 4:21 Paul writes, “Salute every saint in Christ Jesus.” Meaning simply, Greet every one of the Christians. It would be impossible for the Philippian believers to salute the saints in heaven! In Acts 9:13, Ananias prayed and said, “Lord, I have heard by many of this man [Saul of Tarsus], how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem.” Saul could not have done evil to the saints in heaven, for they are out of reach; and if there were saints at Jerusalem, then they were very much alive on earth. Clearly, Christians, even while alive on this earth, are saints. In Acts 26:10 Paul confesses that before his conversion he imprisoned “many of the saints” – they must have been saints on earth for him to be able to do this to them. Of Peter it is written that he “came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda” (Acts 9:32).


Well, if they dwelt at Lydda, they were not yet dwelling in heaven. In v.41 Peter “called the saints” – he called them to see Lydia who had been raised from the dead, he didn’t “call” them by praying to them in heaven! In Rom. 1:7 Paul writes “to those that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” – he was writing to living saints on earth, not those in heaven. How tragic that in Rome today there sits a false “Church”, which teaches the very opposite of what the apostle taught, in his epistle to the true Church in Rome. And every single saint, or Christian, goes immediately to heaven when he dies. There is no purgatory, for Christ Jesus has “by himself purged our sins” (Heb. 1:3)! Paul wrote that he had “a desire to depart, and to be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23); he knew that at the moment of death he would be with Christ in heaven! In 2 Cor. 5:6-8 he wrote, “whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord”, and, “We are... willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” At death, the believer goes to be with the Lord in heaven. The teaching of Rome, then, is completely false, for it is completely unbiblical. But it gets stranger, even, than this:

Rome’s Doctrine of Prayer to the Dead

According to Rome, those who go straight to heaven when they die, and are “saints”, are declared to be able to intercede with God on behalf of living Roman Catholics down on earth! Roman Catholics, if they pray to the “saint”, will have the blessing of the “saint” going and interceding with God on their behalf for whatever they prayed for!


Here is the precise Popish teaching, according to its definitive Council of Trent: “the saints, who reign together with Christ, offer up their own prayers to God for men... it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, aid and help for obtaining benefits from God”.1 And again, this time from the authoritative documents of the Second Vatican Council: “For after they have been received into their heavenly home and are present to the Lord, through Him and with Him and in Him, they do not cease to intercede with the Father for us.” And: “The Church...has devoutly implored the aid of their intercession.”2


This too is utterly without foundation in the Word of God. Nowhere in all of Scripture are we taught to pray to dead people! Prayer is to be directed to God alone, for only He can hear it, only He can answer it, and only He must be worshipped – and prayer is a part of worship. We are to pray to the Father in the Name of the Son (Jn. 14:13,14; 16:23,24). No other prayer whatsoever is acceptable; in fact, it is very sinful. If those human beings now in heaven really could hear the prayers of all who were praying to them from all over the earth, this would mean they would have the powers of divinity! They would be gods! The true saints are in heaven, but they are not gods: they cannot hear or answer prayer.



The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5). Rome teaches that the “saints” in heaven can intercede with God on behalf of Papists on earth, and that Papists can and should invoke them. But there’s a problem. How are Romanists to know who are “saints” in heaven and who are not? After all, when a person dies, no one can see where the soul goes.


What if they are praying to one who is not in heaven but only in purgatory, and thus unable to answer them? Ah, but help is at hand: the Popish hierarchy claims the power to solve the problem! There is a way (so it is claimed) whereby it can be discovered who is a “saint” and who is not. The Papacy can declare it!



The Roman Catholic institution’s first step towards canonising a dead person is to declare him or her to be “Venerable”. This is done after an examination of the deceased’s life, etc. Being declared “Venerable” means the person is declared to be “heroic” in virtue, because he supposedly exhibited what are referred to by Rome as the “Seven Virtues” (a human invention and the opposite of that other invention of Rome, the so-called “Seven Deadly Sins”). These virtues are said to be prudence, justice, restraint or temperance, courage or fortitude, faith, hope, and charity or love – all of which must have been possessed to a heroic degree while the person was alive on earth. Then comes the next stage: beatification. This is what John Paul II has now been declared to be – beatified. The one who had previously been referred to as “Venerable” is now referred to as “Blessed”. But what does it mean and how does one get to be declared “Blessed”? Well, for one thing, “The proclamation of a Saint or of a Blessed by the Church is the fruit of putting together various aspects regarding a specific Person.... the sine qua non condition is the holiness of the person’s life, verified during the precise and formal canonical proceedings.”3 And then, for another thing, it must be proved that some miracle has been attributed to the dead person’s intercession with God! And who is to authoritatively pronounce that the “miracle” is genuine? You guessed it, the Papacy itself. It’s a stacked deck.


But here the poor deluded Papist is presented with a problem. Until the Papacy finally and authoritatively declares the dead one to be “Blessed” and therefore capable of hearing prayers from Papists here below and interceding with them in heaven to God, how can anyone be100% sure that the dead person really is in heaven, and really is able to intercede with God for them? They thus pray to one who, for all they know, could still be in purgatory, and thus unable to answer any prayers – but when their prayer is supposedly answered, this is taken as proof that the dead person is in
fact “Blessed” and answering prayer! Doesn’t your head start to swim? This is truly a classic circular argument.


Rome can’t declare the person “Blessed” until a miracle is attributed to that person’s intercession for someone on earth, and yet the one on earth who’s invoking the dead person can’t be sure the dead person can even hear his prayers until he is declared “Blessed” by Rome! How devastatingly tragic, that all these millions of faithful Roman Catholics are going through this convoluted, complicated, unscriptural, heathenish rigmarole in the fervent hope that by invoking some “saint” their prayer will be answered (or at least one they hope is in heaven and therefore a “saint”), when the Lord Jesus Christ said to His true followers, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (Jn. 16:23). How simple, and how sublime! Prayer to God the Father in the Name of God the Son. For He is the one and only Mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5), and no sinful, dead human being can intercede with the Father for those alive on earth! To teach otherwise is blasphemous.



Rome’s Macabre Use of “Relics”


Next, there is the declaration “Non Cultus”, which has to be issued before canonisation can occur. This means that they declare that no cult has formed around the potential “saint”, or around his tomb.

It’s difficult to see how they can actually prevent this from happening, once they have authoritatively declared that a “miracle” has been attributed to his intercession. But anyway, moving on: At this stage in the proceedings, too, the candidate’s body is exhumed. And then for the really macabre part: “relics” are taken from the exhumed body! And what are “relics”? Relics are things that once belonged to a “saint”, or even parts of his or her body! Great powers have always been attributed to these “relics” by Rome, and these items are actually worshipped by Papists! According to Rome’s authoritative Council of Trent, “the holy bodies of holy martyrs, and of others now living with Christ... are to be venerated by the faithful, through which (bodies) many benefits are bestowed by God on men.”4



Like so much else within Popery, relic worship was adopted from ancient heathenism, where it was practiced, for example, in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and within the Buddhist religion. It can be traced back, in fact, to the religious system which began in ancient Babel soon after the flood.


John Paul II’s body has not as yet suffered this macabre indignity, for the simple reason that it has not been in the coffin too long. But at some stage before he is finally canonised, it will happen. And “relics” will be removed. Body parts, in other words! And they call this religion a “Christian church”! It is nothing but baptized paganism, to quote the words of Alexander Hislop in his classic work, The Two Babylons.


And so, finally, there comes the last stage in the whole complicated and disgusting rigmarole: canonisation. To be “canonised” means to be recognised and officially declared by Rome to be a “saint”. Canonisation doesn’t “make” a person a saint, it merely recognises that he always was a saint. But before the dead person can be canonised, a second miracle has to be attributed to his intercession. Once this is established and the deceased is canonised, this means that Rome officially recognises that the deceased has achieved the state of “beatific vision”, meaning he can see God in a literal sense.


Why John Paul II Has Been Beatified So Hastily



For many who have been canonised by Rome, the process has taken centuries; for most, at the very least, it takes many years. There is meant to be a five-year waiting period after the person’s death before an investigation into the possibility of canonisation is opened, although this rule can be waived by the Roman pope. And in 2005 Benedict XVI did just that. Explaining away the waiving of the usual five-year waiting period, a communiqué from the Congregation for Saints’ Causes stated: “It is well known that, by pontifical dispensation, his cause began before the end of the five-year period which the current norms stipulate must pass following the death of a Servant of God. This provision was solicited by the great fame of sanctity which Pope John Paul II enjoyed during his life, in his death and after his death.”5 Nonsense. This unbecoming haste has nothing to do with the much-vaunted heavenly piety and holiness of the late John Paul II, but everything to do with very earthly, very worldly politics.



Vatican politics, specifically. The real reason for the hasty scramble to beatify the man was because, at a time of worldwide anger directed towards Rome because of the priestly sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic institution, the Vatican desperately needed something to boost its fortunes.


The beatification of the most popular and beloved pope in modern times, and perhaps of all time, was just what was needed. The Romish hierarchy saw the adulation of the immense crowds at John Paul’s funeral, who chanted, “Santo subito!” (“Sainthood, now!”), and they were not slow to capitalise on the depth of feeling for the late pope. They moved so swiftly that Giovanni Maria Vian, the director of the Vatican newspaper, said the beatification would be “a historic event which has no precedent”, for “one has to go back to the heart of the Middle Ages to find similar examples, but in contexts that are in no way comparable to Benedict XVI’s decision.”6 He explained that no pope of Rome has beatified his immediate successor in the last ten centuries.


And there’s another reason for the hasty beatification. Although John Paul II was the most popular pope in modern times and possibly of all time, the fact remains that he still firmly maintained the traditional Roman Catholic stance against contraception, abortion, homosexuality, and the role of women in the “Church”. Now these are precisely the issues which many modern, liberally-minded Roman Catholics are questioning, and there are constant calls from liberal Papists for the “Church” to re-examine and even change its traditional stance on these matters. But by beatifying and eventually canonising this extremely popular pope who nevertheless maintained the Roman Catholic institution’s position on these issues, the Vatican hierarchy is hoping it will go a long way towards silencing such critics. After all, if these are the things “Blessed” and eventually “Saint” John Paul II stood for, who could dare criticise them?


Thus Benedict decided, only months after John Paul had died, to fast-track the road to “sainthood” by waiving the normal five-year waiting period. And ever since then, things have moved very, very rapidly for the Vatican, as John Paul’s beatification case was rushed through all the various steps.


A “Miraculous” Healing Attributed to the Intercession of the Dead John Paul II

As we have seen, in order for any Papist to be beatified, be he pope or peasant, at least one miracle must be attributed to his intercession. What this means in practice is that it is claimed – and supposedly proven – that some Papist who prayed for some miracle to be performed through the intercession of the dead one with God, actually received the miracle from the deceased. In John Paul’s case, the “miracle” that was paraded before the world concerned a French nun, Marie Simon Pierre Normand, who (so it was claimed) requested God to grant her healing through the intercession of John Paul II, whom she invoked, and was miraculously healed of Parkinson’s disease – the very disease from which John Paul II had suffered. The case was investigated by the Vatican medical board and a group of theologians, and was approved; in other words, they found it to be a genuine miracle of healing. No surprise there: the Vatican desperately wanted to beatify John Paul II – desperately needed to beatify him, from its own perspective – so its own medical board and its own Roman Catholic theologians approved the “miracle”. Imagine that.


Back in 2007, it was reported that the nun, supposedly miraculously healed, had suffered a relapse – something the “Church” of Rome denied, of course. According to the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes, its medical and legal experts, “having studied the depositions and the entire documentation with their customary scrupulousness, expressed their agreement concerning the scientifically inexplicable nature of the healing.” Thereafter, the Vatican theological consulters evaluated the case, and “unanimously recognized the unicity, antecedence and choral nature of the invocation made to Servant of God John Paul II, whose intercession was effective in this prodigious healing.”



Next, during the ordinary session of the Congregation, its prelate-members expressed their “unanimous approval.” They expressed their belief in the miraculous nature of the nun’s recovery, “having been achieved by God in a scientifically inexplicable manner following the intercession of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, trustingly invoked both by Sister Simon herself and by many other faithful.”7 Oh, they piously attribute the “miracle” to God ultimately – but only after the nun prayed to the dead John Paul, and the dead John Paul supposedly interceded with God on her behalf! In other words, God may have had a hand in the healing, but it was all thanks to the intercession of a dead pope, after he was invoked in prayer by a living nun!



And these devil-blinded men (2 Cor. 4:4), along with over a billion of the world’s inhabitants, cannot see the sheer blasphemy of what they are claiming! After their approval, the final judgment had to be issued by the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, after which Benedict XVI had to sign a decree formally recognising the “miracle”. Clearly both the Congregation and Benedict were perfectly willing to do what they had to do, and accordingly a communiqué issued by the Congregation announced on the 14th January that Benedict “authorized the dicastery to promulgate the decree of the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla).”



Attempted Communication with the Dead is Occult Necromancy!


Prayers to the dead – apart from the blatant sin of praying to anyone but God, for only God can hear and answer prayer – are nothing less than necromancy! Necromancy is supposed communication with the dead, as in what is claimed to occur in spiritualist séances, and in one form or another it has been practiced, and is still practiced, in various heathen religions. It is listed with other occult practices and directly forbidden in the Word of God, for the dead cannot be communicated with, and it is contact with demons impersonating the dead: “There shall not be found among you any one that...useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord” (Deut. 18:10-12). And yet what does the official Catechism of the Roman Catholic institution – endorsed by John Paul II – claim? Here are the very words: “Communion with the dead.... Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping ‘them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.’” “We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.”8 Thus, this very man taught the necromancy which is now being offered to him! The fact that the Roman Catholic religion permits and actually encourages necromancy, shows that (according to Deut. 18) all Roman Catholics are an abomination unto the Lord, unless they repent and believe the true Gospel, and turn from this false heathenish religion to the Lord Jesus Christ! John Paul II, as the very head of this iniquitous religious system, was an abomination unto the Lord, and died in his sins.


John Paul II: Cursed, Not “Blessed”


Some months prior to his beatification the Vatican’s spokesman, Jesuit priest Federico Lombardi, said of John Paul II when announcing the date on which he would be beatified: “The Church recognizes that Karol Wojtyla gave eminent and exemplary witness of Christian life, he is a friend and an intercessor who helps the people to direct themselves to God and to encounter him.” He said that John Paul’s works should be admired “precisely because they are an expression of the depth and authenticity of his relationship with God, of his love for Christ and for all human persons, beginning with the poor and the weak; of his tender filial love for the Mother of Jesus.” He then added that John Paul’s legacy is “his desire to celebrate and proclaim Jesus the Redeemer and Savior of man”.9 Let’s just dissect this Jesuit’s fawning praise heaped on John Paul’s head:




Did he really give “eminent and exemplary witness of Christian life”? Did he really have a deep and authentic “relationship with God”? Did he really “love Christ”? The answers are No, No, and No. John Paul II was, quite simply and very tragically, not a Christian. A true Christian does not have “tender filial love for the Mother of Jesus”; the Jesuit said in one breath that John Paul had a relationship with God and love for Christ, and a relationship of sonship with Mary! True Christians do not worship Mary, pray to Mary, sing to Mary, ask Mary for help, or give glory to her in any way – but John Paul II did all these things. This is nothing less than demon-worship: for the true Mary, the humble mother of the Lord, died in the first century AD, and her soul went to heaven as
the souls of all true Christians do. The “Mary” of Roman Catholicism is a goddess, elevated to a position of power equal with that of the Roman Catholic “Christ”. This “Mary” is a demon, receiving the worship millions give him under this name.



The “Christ” of Roman Catholicism is, in any case, not the Christ of God! The “Christ” of Roman Catholicism is a “false Christ”; “another Jesus” (Matt. 24:5,24; 2 Cor. 11:4). The pope of Rome himself, in fact, has been declared to be, in official Roman Catholic documents, “another Christ”, “another God on earth”, “Christ in office, Christ in jurisdiction and power”, “our Lord God the Pope”, “Jesus Christ Himself, hidden under the veil of flesh”! Thus the pope of Rome himself is one of the false Christs of Romanism (another being the mass-wafer): how can he be a true Christian? It is an utter impossibility!



John Paul II, in addition, rejected the teachings of the Word of God, and upheld the lying doctrines of Rome in their place. For example, he placed the traditions of men on an equality with the written Scriptures; he worshipped idols himself, bowing in adoration before images of Mary and the so-called ‘saints”, and he encouraged all Roman Catholics to commit the same idolatry; he taught that a person is born again by the Romish sacrament of baptism; he believed that men should confess their sins to priests who have power to absolve them; he worshipped a piece of bread as Christ; he was devoted to Mary-worship; he firmly held that as the pope of Rome, he was the supreme pastor and teacher of all



“Christians” and as such, that he possessed infallible teaching authority when proclaiming a doctrine of faith or morals; he endorsed and encouraged the sinful occult practice of necromancy (communication with the dead); he actually beatified and canonised a huge number of dead people and thereby encouraged Roman Catholics to commit this same sin of necromancy; etc.



John Paul II, so far from being a Christian, was in fact, from the moment of his installation as pope of Rome, the biblical Antichrist (as all popes of Rome are). Not only was he a devout Papist, he was the head of the antichristian Papal system, described in Holy Scripture as “the Great Whore” (Rev. 17). He was the biblical Antichrist (1 Jn. 2:18), the biblical Man of Sin and Son of Perdition (2 Thess. 2:1-12). No Roman Catholic is a true Christian; how impossible it is, then, for the head of this monstrous religion to be a Christian!



And speak not of John Paul’s “humility” and “Christ-likeness”. Although in recent times it has become common for the Papal system to use terms of humility when referring to the popes (such as “servant of the servants of God”) rather than emphasising the terms of exaltation which have for centuries been applied to them, this does not change the fact that the Roman pope is the most arrogant of men, believing himself to be in the place of Christ on earth, and indeed to be Christ Himself in some way. John Paul’s much-vaunted “humility” was a sham. He was a vain, proud, arrogant man, just like every pope before him, full of his own importance and drunk with his power, demanding and receiving the deference and subjection of kings and presidents who always appeared dressed in black for any audiences with him as a sign of their lower status and subjection, and happily acknowledging the adulation of the hundreds of millions of Roman Catholics the world over. Is this man, then, “Blessed” of God? No! Far from being “Blessed”, he is in fact under the eternal curse of the God whom he blasphemed in his life. For the Word of the living God says, “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:9). John Paul II preached a false gospel, and thus is under the curse of God for all eternity. Far from being “Blessed John Paul II”, he is a cursed one; the very “Son of Perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3).



The Iniquitous Beatification Ceremony


During the vigil held at Rome’s Circus Maximus during the night before the beatification ceremony, which was attended by 200 000 people, the nun who claims to have been healed by John Paul’s intercession gave her “testimony”. She said to the crowd, “John Paul II is looking upon us from heaven and smiling.”10 Apart from the tragic reality that John Paul is in hell, not heaven, it is amazing how many people, Protestants as well as Papists, have this absolutely false and unbiblical idea that people in heaven are looking down on those they loved on earth. There is nothing in all the Bible which even hints at such an idea, and indeed for those in heaven to be able to see all that is occurring on this sinful earth would take away from the perfect peace and joy which we know from Scripture that they are experiencing. It is thus a fallacy.


The beatification ceremony in Rome was attended by over one million pilgrims – the most crowded beatification in history. St Peter’s Square was packed, and the vast crowd stretched all the way back to the Tiber River, over half a kilometre away. In his homily, Benedict XVI said that John Paul II had blessed crowds thousands of times from his window overlooking the square, and then he said: “Bless us now.”11 This of course was a prayer to John Paul II – the sheer blasphemy of it all! Benedict read the formula of beatification, in Latin: “We grant that the venerable Servant of God John Paul II, Pope, henceforth be called Blessed and that his feast may be celebrated in the places and according to the regulations established by law, every year on October 22.”12 At that moment a smiling portrait of John Paul II was uncovered on a large banner that hung from the main loggia of St Peter’s Basilica. A huge shout of applause ascended from the thousands in St Peter’s Square, sweeping down Rome’s streets as thousands more followed the event on video screens.



World leaders were also present in large numbers to witness the event: 62 delegations led by heads of state and government, as well as royal families, besides the other countries officially represented. Not only such leaders of predominantly Roman Catholic countries such as the president and prime minister of Italy, the president of Poland, the presidents of Mexico and Honduras, and a representative of the European Union, and not only others such as the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and representatives of the royal families of Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the (supposedly Protestant) United Kingdom, but even a country such as Israel was represented by a member of the Israeli Knesset.



How utterly tragic that today, so many Jews think the Vatican, which for so many centuries has been the deadly enemy of Jews, is now on their side. Even Zimbabwe’s illegally elected dictator-president, Robert Mugabe, attended! He was educated by the Jesuits – a fact which speaks volumes about the man he is – and although he is banned from travelling to the European Union because of the brutality of his government towards the people of Zimbabwe, the Vatican didn’t share these scruples and permitted him to attend. And this speaks volumes about the Vatican and the Roman Catholic institution! That an institution claiming to be the true Church of Jesus Christ on earth could permit a monster like Mugabe to attend the ceremony, shows to all the world (if the world paid any attention) just what kind of institution this really is. It welcomes into its embrace the unrepentant scum of the earth. But to those who were shocked by Mugabe’s presence at the beatification we would say: study history! The Roman Papacy through all its centuries of existence has always supported the very worst of dictators and tyrants, whenever it has deemed it beneficial to do so. Mugabe is by no means the first, and he will certainly not be the last brutal dictator



to be raised within the bosom of this Harlot religion, and to be supported by it afterwards. Birds of a feather flock together. The Bible says of the Great Whore, “with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication” (Rev. 17:2).


The Veneration of John Paul II’s Blood, and Other Bizarre Relics

Immediately after the mass was held at the beatification ceremony in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, Roman Catholics could pray before John Paul II’s mortal remains in his coffin, which was set in front of the main altar in St Peter’s Basilica. And then – again – for the really macabre part: a reliquary containing the blood of John Paul II was presented for veneration during the beatification ceremony! Yes, you read right. His blood! Where did they get it from? Well, towards the end of his life, in case a transfusion was needed, four vials of his blood were extracted but never used. Two of them were held at a hospital in Rome which runs a transfusion centre, and the other two were given to John Paul’s personal secretary. The liturgical celebrations office placed the two vials held at the hospital into two reliquaries, and one of these vials was presented during the beatification, and afterwards housed in the Vatican. The other was returned to the hospital. During the ceremony, the nun who was supposedly miraculously healed through John Paul II’s intercession, carried in procession the reliquary during the liturgy. She was accompanied by another nun who had assisted John Paul II’s physician.13


Now that is macabre indeed. But it is par for the course from Roman Catholicism, which is a religion of death, superstition, and such bizarre relics as the blood of “saints”, the fat from the body of one who was burned alive, toenail parings from another, a feather of the angel Gabriel, a number of heads of John the Baptist (each one claiming to be the genuine one), enough wood supposedly from the cross to fill a whole forest, a perspiration-soaked vest of Pius IX (claimed to be more potent precisely because it was unwashed), butter and cheese made from the milk of the Virgin (yes, really!), the diapers of the baby Jesus, and other such claims. They even claim to possess as a relic (in fact, more than one!) the foreskin of the Lord Jesus after He was circumcised!


Conclusion


And now the process starts for the eventual canonisation of John Paul II. It is not likely to take as long as most: Rome wants “Saint John Paul II”, and as soon as decently possible. Perhaps even as soon as indecently possible. All Bible-believing Christians must have the deepest compassion for the over one billion deluded Roman Catholics, who followed this accursed Man of Sin and Son of Perdition, John Paul II, during his life, and who now venerate him after his death and pray to him. And continue to follow his successor, the present Antichrist, Man of Sin and Son of Perdition, Benedict XVI, and the diabolical religion over which he presides as the supposed “Vicar of Christ”, to whom subjection is required for salvation according to Roman Catholic doctrine.


May 2011

Shaun Willcock is a minister of the Gospel. He runs Bible Based Ministries. For other articles (which
may be downloaded and printed), as well as details about his books, audio messages, pamphlets, etc.,
please visit the Bible Based Ministries website; or write to the address below. If you would like to be
on Bible Based Ministries’ email list, to receive all future articles, please send your details.

ENDNOTES:
1.Council of Trent, Session 25, “Decree on the Invocation, Veneration, and Relics of Saints, and on
Sacred Images”.
2.Vatican II, “Dogmatic Constitution on the Church”, paras. 49, 50.
3.Excerpt of Decree for John Paul II’s Beatification, February 4, 2011. Zenit.org.
4.Council of Trent, Session 25, “Decree on the Invocation, Veneration, and Relics of Saints, and on
Sacred Images”.
5.Benedict XVI to Beatify John Paul II, January 14, 2011. Zenit.org.
6.Vian: John Paul II’s Beatification is “Historic”, January 20, 2011. Zenit.org.
7.Benedict XVI to Beatify John Paul II, January 14, 2011. Zenit.org.
8.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, paragraphs 958 and 2683. United States Catholic
Conference, Inc., Washington, D.C., 1994, 1997.
9.Mercy Links John Paul II Life, Death, Beatification, January 14, 2011. Zenit.org.
10.Prayer Vigil Reveals Unknown Facts about John Paul II, April 30, 2011. Zenit.org.
11.The Witness, May 2, 2011.
12.1M Pilgrims Make for the Most Crowded Beatification Ever, May1, 2011. Zenit.org.
13.Vatican Prepares Relic of John Paul II’s Blood, April 29, 2011; and 1M Pilgrims Make for the Most
Crowded Beatification Ever, May1, 2011. Zenit.org.

Regime Change at the IMF: The Frame-Up of Dominique Strauss-Kahn?

Regime Change at the IMF: The Frame-Up of Dominique Strauss-Kahn?

by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24866

The arrest of IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has all the appearances of a frame-up ordered by powerful members of the financial establishment, in liaison with France's Nicolas Sarkozy, whose presidency has served the interests of the US at the expense of those of France and the European Union. While there is for the moment no proof of a plot, the unusual circumstances of his arrest and imprisonment require careful examination.

Immediately following Strauss Kahn's arrest, pressures were exerted by Washington to speed up his replacement as Managing Director of the IMF preferably by a non-European, an American or a handpicked candidate from an "emerging market economy" or a developing country.

Since the founding of the Bretton Woods institutions in 1945, the World Bank has been headed by an American whereas the IMF has been under the helm of a (Western) European.

Strauss-Kahn is a member of elite groups who meet behind closed doors. He belongs to the Bildeberger. Categorized as one of the world's most influential persons, he is an academic and politician rather than a banker. In contrast to his predecessors at the IMF, he has no direct affiliation to a banking or financial institution.
But at the same time he is the fall guy. His "gaffe" was to confront the Washington-Wall Street Consensus and push for reforms within the IMF, which challenged America's overriding role within the organization.

The demise of Strauss-Kahn potentially serves to strengthen the hegemony of the US and its control over the IMF at the expense of what former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called "Old Europe".

Blocking Strauss-Kahn, the Presidential Candidate
In recent years, a major shift has occurred in Europe's political landscape. Pro-American governments have been elected in both France and Germany. Social Democracy has been weakened.

Franco-American relations have been redefined, with Washington playing a significant role in grooming a new generation of European politicians.
The presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy has, in many regards, become a de facto US "client regime", broadly supportive of US corporate interests in the EU and closely aligned with US foreign policy.

There are two overlapping and interrelated issues in the DSK frame-up hypothesis.
The first pertains to regime change at the IMF, the second to Strauss-Kahn as a candidate in France's forthcoming presidential elections.

Both these processes are tied into the clash between competing US and European economic interests including control over the euro-currency system.
Strauss-Khan as a favorite of the Socialist Party, would have won the presidential elections leading to the demise of "Our Man in Paris" Nicolas Sarkozy. As documented by Thierry Meyssan, the CIA played a central undercover role in destabilizing the Gaullist party and supporting the election of Nicolas Sarkozy (See Operation Sarkozy: How the CIA placed one of its agents at the presidency of the French Republic, Reseau Voltaire, September 4, 2008)

A Strauss-Kahn presidency and a "Socialist" government would have been a serious setback for Washington, contributing to a major shift in Franco-American relations.

It would have contributed to weakening Washington's role on the European political chessboard, leading to a shift in the balance of power between America and "Old Europe" (namely the Franco-German alliance).

It would have had repercussions on the internal structure of the Atlantic Alliance and the hegemonic role of the US within NATO.

The Eurozone monetary system as well as Wall Street's resolve to exert a decisive influence on the European monetary architecture are also at stake.

The Frame-Up?


Fifty-seven percent of France's population, according to a May 17 poll, believe that Strauss-Kahn was framed, victim of a set-up. He was detained on alleged sexual assault and rape charges based on scanty evidence. He was detained based on a complaint filed by the Sofitel hotel where he was staying, on behalf of the alleged victim, an unnamed hotel chamber-maid:

The 32-year-old maid told authorities that she entered his suite early Saturday afternoon and he attacked her, New York Police Department spokesman Paul J. Browne. She said she had been told to clean the spacious $3,000-a-night suite, which she thought was empty.

According to an account the woman provided to police, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She said she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, authorities said. They called police.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7565485.html#ixzz1MfFWFlnY


Challenging the Washington Consensus


What is at stake in the immediate wake of Strauss Kahn's demise is "regime change" at the IMF.

The Obama administration has demanded his replacement by a more compliant individual. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former CEO of the New York Federal Reserve Bank is pushing for the replacement of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, "suggesting he can no longer perform his duties" as IMF Managing director.

"Geithner called for greater formal recognition by the IMF board that John Lipsky, the fund's second-in-command, will continue serving as temporary managing director for an interim period. Although Strauss-Kahn has yet to resign, sources say the IMF is in touch with his legal counsel to discuss his future at the organization."
What lies behind the frame-up scenario? What powerful interests are involved? Geithner had a close personal relationship with Strauss-Kahn.

On the floor of the US Senate (May 18), Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, called for the resignation of DSK while calling upon the IMF's deputy managing director John Lipsky to "assume full responsibility of the IMF" as interim managing director. The process of "permanent replacement should "commence at once," he said. John Lipsky is a well connected Wall Street banker, a former Vice Chairman at JPMorgan Investment Bank.

While the IMF is in theory an intergovernmental organization, it has historically been controlled by Wall Street and the US Treasury. The IMF's "bitter economic medicine", the so-called Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), imposed on countless developing countries, essentially serves the interests of creditor banks and multinational corporations.

The IMF is not the main architect of these devastating economic reforms which have served to impoverish millions of people, while creating a "favorable environment" for foreign investors in Third World low wage economies.
The creditor banks call the shots. The IMF is a bureaucratic entity. Its role is to implement and enforce those economic policies on behalf of dominant economic interests.

Strauss Kahn's proposed reforms while providing a "human face" to the IMF did not constitute a shift in direction. They were formulated within the realm of neoliberalism. They modified but they did not undermine the central role of IMF "economic medicine". The socially devastating impacts of IMF "shock treatment" under Strauss-Kahn's leadership have largely prevailed.

Dominique Strauss Kahn arrived at the helm of the IMF in November 2007, less than a year prior to September-October 2008 financial meltdown on Wall Street. The structural adjustment program (SAP) was not modified. Under DSK, IMF "shock treatment" which historically had been limited to developing countries was imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Under the helm of DSK as Managing Director, the IMF demanded that developing countries remove food and fuel subsidies at a time of rising commodity prices on the New York and Chicago Mercantile exchanges.

The hikes in food and fuel prices, which preceded the September-October 2008 Wall Street crash, were in large part the result of market manipulation. Grain prices were boosted artificially by large scale speculative operations. Instead of taming the speculators and containing the rise in food and fuel prices, the IMF's role was to ensure that the governments of indebted developing countries would not in any way interfere in the "free market", by preventing these prices from going up.

These hikes in food prices, which are the result of outright manipulation (rather than scarcity) have served to impoverish people Worldwide. The surge in food prices constitutes a new phase of the process of global impoverishment.

DSK was complicit in this process of market manipulation. The removal of food and fuel subsidies in Tunisia and Egypt had been demanded by the IMF. Food and fuel prices skyrocketed, people were impoverished, paving the way towards the January 2011 social protest movement:

Fiscal prudence remains an overarching priority for the [Tunisian] authorities, who also see the need for maintaining a supportive fiscal policy in 2010 in the current international environment. Efforts in the last decade to bring down the public debt ratio significantly should not be jeopardized by a too lax fiscal policy. The authorities are committed to firmly control current expenditure, including subsidies,... (IMF Tunisia: 2010 Article IV Consultation - Staff Report; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Tunisia)

"[The IMF] encouraged the [Egyptian] authorities to press further with food and fuel subsidy reforms, and welcomed their intention to improve the efficiency and targeting of food subsidy programs. [meaning the selective elimination of food subsidies].

"Consideration should be given to introducing automatic adjustment mechanisms for domestic fuel prices to minimize distortions [meaning dramatic increases in fuel prices without State interference], while strengthening cash-based social programs to protect vulnerable groups. (IMF Executive Board Concludes 2008 Article IV Consultation with the Arab Republic of Egypt Public Information Notice, PIN No. 09/04, January 15, 2009)

Under the helm of DSK, the IMF also imposed sweeping austerity measures on Egypt in 2008, while supporting Hosni Mubarak's "efforts to broaden the privatization program".(Ibid)

The Frank G. Wisner Nicolas Sarkozy Connection


Strauss-Kahn was refused bail by Judge Melissa Jackson, an appointee and protégé of Michael Bloomberg, who in addition to his role as Mayor is a powerful figure on Wall Street.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. charged (using scanty evidence) Strauss-Kahn "with seven crimes, including attempted rape, sexual abuse, forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment".

Who is Cyrus Vance Jr.?

He is the son of the late Cyrus Vance who served as Secretary of State in the Carter administration.
But there is more than meets the eye. Nicolas Sarkozy's step father Frank G. Wisner II, a prominent CIA official who married his step mother Christine de Ganay in 1977 served as Deputy Executive Secretary of State under the helm of Cyrus Vance Senior, father of District Attorney Cyrus Vance Junior.

Is it relevant?


The Vance and Wisner families had close personal ties. In turn Nicolas Sarkozy had close family ties with his step father Frank Wisner (and his half brothers and sisters in the US and one member of the Wisner family was involved in Sarkozy's election campaign).

It is also worth noting that Frank G. Wisner II was the son of one of America's most notorious spies, the late Frank Gardiner Wisner (1909- 1965), the mastermind behind the CIA sponsored coup which toppled the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran in 1953. Wisner Jr. is also trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Trust.

While these various personal ties do not prove that Strauss-Kahn was the object of a set-up, the matter of Sarkozy's ties to the CIA via his step father, not to mention the ties of Frank G. Wisner II to the Cyrus Vance family are certainly worth investigating. Frank G, Wisner also played a key role as Obama's special intelligence envoy to Egypt at the height of the January 2011 protest movement.

Did the CIA play a role?

Was Strauss-Kahn framed by people in his immediate political entourage including President Obama and Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner?
Fair Trial?

Innocent before proven guilty? The US media has already cast its verdict. Will the court procedures be manipulated?

One would expect that Strauss-Kahn be granted a fair trial, namely the same treatment as that granted to thousands of arrests on alleged sexual aggression charges in New York City.

How many similar or comparable alleged sexual aggressions occur on a monthly basis in New York City? What is the underlying pattern? How many of these are reported to the police? How many are the object of police follow-up once a complaint has been filed?

What is the percent of complaints submitted to police which are the object of police arrest? How many of these arrests lead to a judicial procedure? What are the delays in court procedures?

How many of these arrests lead to release without a judicial procedure?
How many of the cases submitted to a judicial procedure are dismissed by the presiding judge?

How many of the cases which are not dismissed are refused bail outright by the presiding judge? What is the basis for refusing bail?
How many are granted bail? What is the average amount of bail?
How many are imprisoned without bail based on scanty and incomplete evidence?
How many of those who are refused bail are sent to an infamous maximum security prison on Rikers Island on the orders of Michael Bloomberg.

Diplomatic Immunity


Press reports state that full diplomatic immunity does not apply to officials of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions, namely that the US did not ratify the protocol.

"U.N. convention on privileges and immunities for international agencies that most countries have ratified. It gives the heads of U.N. agencies broad immunity in the countries where they are based. But the U.S. government never became a party to that treaty. Employees of international agencies are covered by a U.S. statute that gives only limited immunity."

The relevant question is how has this limited immunity provision been applied in practice? Namely how many people with limited immunity (UN officials, officials of the Bretton Woods institutions) have been arrested and sent to a high security prison?

Has Strauss Kahn been given the same treatment as those arrested under the provisions of "limited immunity"?

Does the Strauss Kahn arrest fit the pattern? Or is Strauss Kahn being treated in a way which does not correspond to the normal (average) pattern of police and judicial procedures applied in the numerous cases of persons arrested on alleged sexual assault charges?

Without a frame-up instrumented by very powerful people acting in the background, the head of the IMF would have been treated in an entirely different way. The mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg and Timothy Geithner would have come to his rescue. The matter would have been hushed up with a view to protecting the reputation of a powerful public figure. But that did not happen.



IMF chief arrested in sexual assault on NYC hotel maid


By COLLEEN LONG
© 2011 The Associated Press
May 15, 2011, 1:20PM

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7565485.html#ixzz1NRdlH2dW


NEW YORK — The leader of the International Monetary Fund, a possible candidate for president of France, was yanked from an airplane moments before it was to depart for Paris and arrested in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid, police said.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, 62, was arrested on charges of a criminal sex act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. He had been taken off the Air France flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday afternoon by police officers.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, told The Associated Press that his client will plead not guilty.

"He denies all the charges against him," Brafman said. "And that's all I can really say right now."

Brafman and another lawyer briefly went in and out of the Harlem police precinct where Strauss-Kahn was being held early Sunday afternoon, and declined to answer reporters' questions until the arraignment, which was expected later Sunday.
France woke to the news Sunday with a measure of surprise.

Strauss-Kahn was expected to be the main challenger against President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose political fortunes have been flagging, in next year's presidential elections. The arrest could shake up the race and throw the long-divided Socialists back into disarray about who they could present as Sarkozy's opponent.

"It's a cross that will be difficult for him to bear," said Dominique Paille, a political rival to Strauss-Kahn on the center right, on BFM television.

"If it is true, this would be a historic moment, but in the negative sense, for French political life," Paille said. Still, he urged, "I hope that everyone respects the presumption of innocence. I cannot manage to believe this affair."

It wasn't clear why Strauss-Kahn was in New York. The IMF is based in Washington, and he was due in Germany on Sunday. His attorney declined to answer questions beyond saying his client denied the charges.

Strauss-Kahn checked into the luxury Sofitel hotel not far from Manhattan's Times Square Friday afternoon, police said.

The 32-year-old maid told authorities that she entered his suite early Saturday afternoon and he attacked her, New York Police Department spokesman Paul J. Browne. She said she had been told to clean the spacious $3,000-a-night suite, which she thought was empty.

According to an account the woman provided to police, Strauss-Kahn emerged from the bathroom naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where he began to sexually assault her. She said she fought him off, then he dragged her into the bathroom, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to remove her underwear. The woman was able to break free again and escaped the room and told hotel staff what had happened, authorities said. They called police.

When detectives arrived moments later, Strauss-Kahn had already left the hotel, leaving behind his cellphone, Browne said. "It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne said.

The NYPD discovered he was at the airport and contacted officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport. Port Authority officers plucked Strauss-Kahn from first class on the Air France flight that was just about to leave the gate.

The maid was taken by police to a hospital and was being treated for minor injuries. John Sheehan, a spokesman for the hotel, said its staff was cooperating in the investigation.

In sexual assault cases, it is procedure for detectives to look for DNA and forensic evidence and signs of trauma.

The accusations come amid French media reports about Strauss-Kahn's lifestyle, including luxury cars and suits, that some have dubbed a smear campaign.
The married father of four is known as DSK in France, but media there also have dubbed him "the great seducer." His reputation as a charmer of women has not hurt his career in France, where politicians' private lives traditionally come under less scrutiny than in the United States.

In 2008, Strauss-Kahn was briefly investigated over whether he had an improper relationship with a subordinate female employee. The IMF board found that the relationship was consensual, but called his actions "regrettable" and said they "reflected a serious error of judgment."

The IMF employee left the fund and took a job with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Strauss-Kahn issued an apology, writing in an email to IMF staff that he showed poor judgment but didn't abuse his position.

Caroline Atkinson, an IMF spokeswoman, issued a statement Sunday that said the agency would have no comment on the New York case. She referred all inquiries to Strauss-Kahn's personal lawyer and said the "IMF remains fully functioning and operational."

Strauss-Kahn's offices in Paris couldn't be reached when the news broke overnight in France. One of his allies, Jean-Marie Le Guen, expressed doubt about the case.
"The facts as they've been reported today have nothing to do with the Dominique Strauss-Kahn that we know," Le Guen said on BFM television. "Dominique Strauss-Kahn has never exhibited violence toward people close to him, to anyone."

Strauss-Kahn was supposed to be meeting in Berlin on Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about aid to debt-laden Greece, and then join EU finance ministers in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday. The IMF is responsible for one-third of Greece's existing loan package, and his expected presence at these meetings underlined the gravity of the Greek crisis.

Strauss-Kahn took over as head of the IMF in November 2007. The 187-nation lending agency provides help in the form of emergency loans for countries facing severe financial problems.

He won praise for his leadership during the financial crisis of 2008 and the severe global recession that followed.

More recently, he has directed the IMF's participation in bailout efforts to keep a European debt crisis, which began in Greece from destabilizing the global economy.
Before taking the top post at the IMF, Strauss-Kahn had been a member of the French National Assembly and had also served as France's Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry from June 1997 to November 1999.

More recently, Strauss-Kahn was seen as the strongest possible challenger to Sarkozy. He has not declared his candidacy, staying vague in interviews while feeding speculation that he wants France's top job.

He sought the Socialist Party's endorsement in the last elections, in 2007, but came in second in a primary to Segolene Royal. Royal, the first woman to get so close to France's presidency, lost to Sarkozy in the runoff.

After Sarkozy won, the new president championed Strauss-Kahn as a candidate to run the IMF. Sarkozy's backers touted the move as a sign of the conservative president's campaign of openness to leftists — but political strategists saw it as a way for Sarkozy to get a potential challenger far away from the French limelight.

Royal, who continues to harbor presidential ambitions of her own, was cautious about the allegations, saying Sunday that Strauss-Kahn has the right to the presumption of innocence.

Strauss-Kahn is credited with preparing France for the adoption of the euro by taming its deficit and persuading then-Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to sign up to an EU pact of fiscal prudence.

A former economics professor, Strauss-Kahn joined the Socialist party in 1976 and was elected to parliament in 1986 from the Val-d'Oise district, north of Paris. He went on to become mayor of Sarcelles, a working-class immigrant suburb of Paris.
His first government post was industry minister under former President Francois Mitterrand.
___
Associated Press writers Cristian Salazar in New York, Martin Crutsinger in Washington and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

Uganda media promotes Nigerian Prosperity Kingpin Pastor Enock Adeboye’s May 23-24, 2011 Kampala visit

FIRST READ:

Nigerian Prosperity Kingpin Pastor Enoch Adeboye to Preach at Hotel, Africana, Kampala- May, 23-24, 2011

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/04/nigerian-prosperity-kingpin-pastor.html


Wealthy Nigerians, Pastors Spend $225 million on Private Jets


http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/05/wealthy-nigerians-pastors-spend-225.html



Pastor Enock Adeboye to visit Uganda

http://mobile.monitor.co.ug/Sunday+Life/-/1055104/1162100/-/format/xhtml/-/gj3vxy/-/index.html

Posted by MONITOR REPORTER

on Sunday, May 15 2011 at 00:00

Enoch Adejare Adeboye, a famous pastor from Nigeria and General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), will be coming to Uganda for a conference starting May 23-24th.

This will be his maiden visit to the country. He will first pass by Rwanda before coming to Uganda.

Pastor Adeboye is arguably one of the most famous pastors in Africa, so famous that in 2008 Newsweek magazine named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world.
The magazine said, “Behind Adeboye’s extraordinary success is his reputation for honesty. While other Pentecostal pastors (including some Nigerians) have been accused of financial misdeeds or faking supernatural powers, Adeboye remains above the fray…”

He is considered by many as one of the most outstanding figures of the 21st century Christianity.

Although he leads one of the fastest growing Christian Churches in Nigeria and probably in Africa today, majority of the flock he shepherds apart from calling him Daddy or Father in the Lord know little or nothing about him.

This is probably because of a philosophy which seems to emphasise the power and glory of God in all that he does, rather than highlight his own personal achievements or contribution to the phenomenal growth of the church and the body of Christ.

As he will say whenever commended, Glory be to God.
Under his leadership the church has experienced phenomenal growth from 40 small parishes which were located in the south-western Nigeria to well over 20,000 parishes in 110 nations.

Pr. Adeboye is also the host of annual Holy Ghost congress which attracts over seven million worshippers from all continents of the world and has been reputed as the largest gathering of human beings in history.

Pastor Adeboye was born on March 2, 1942 at Ifewara in the present day Osun State. His parents now deceased were natives of the town, which is about midway between Ilesha and Ondo towns.

The name Adejare cannotes, “The prince who has emerged triumphant or victorius.”
He had a strict Christian upbring which was engineered by a church going culture, the prevalent style of Christianity of those days. This church-going attitude gave him an appreciation of God, but made no extraordinary or outstanding Christian out of him.

Before joining the Pentecostal church Adeboye was a mathematics lecturer, and worked at the universities of Lagos and Ilorin. He has a PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Lagos.



Prosperity Gospel - A Gospel Of The Antichrist


By Kato Mivule

http://www.yesumulungi.com/Commentary/Comment53.htm


October 8, 2006

1 John 4:1-6
(1) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
(2) Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
(3) And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
(4) Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
(5) They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
(6) We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh...this is the spirit of the Antichrist... However, the 'confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh' is not a mere outside mouth confession or a religious confession in church but an acknowledgment, realization, submission to The Lordship of Jesus Christ in our personal life and from the heart to the fact that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh...that He reigns as Lord in our personal lives.

1 John 4:2
(2) Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

It is the recognition, realization, submission, and obedience to the Life, Authority, Power, Lordship, Command, Word of God, and Life of Suffering, of Jesus Christ. So, this is not just mere confession on the outside that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” yet when one’s life and heart are totally contrary to the ‘Life of Jesus Christ in the Flesh’.

'Confess' in Greek...

G3670
ὁμολογέω
homologeō
hom-ol-og-eh'-o
From a compound of the base of G3674 and G3056; to assent, that is, covenant, acknowledge: - con- (pro-) fess, confession is made, give thanks, promise.

So, the Greek word that John used here ‘confess’ is ‘homologeo’ meaning…
• To Assent...
• Covenant…
• Acknowledge…
• Confess…
• Give Thanks…
So, the verse above speaks about not only confessing the that 'Christ Jesus is come in the flesh' but obeying Jesus Christ and living the life of Jesus Christ in us. Just as Christ Jesus walked in the flesh, so we follow His example and we too walk a life that is dead to this world, sin and evil and live the life of Jesus Christ in us.

This means total obedience to the commands of Jesus Christ in us. It means dying to the things of the world and the pleasures of the world. It means carrying our cross and following Jesus Christ daily.

If we Confess, Acknowledge, Realize, Covenant, Assent that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, then we live that life of suffering just as Jesus Christ suffered, we live the life of the cross, we then love the things Jesus Christ loves and hate what He hates. This means not being a friend of the world and not loving the things that are in the world. It means 100% obedience to Christ Jesus regardless of the price and cost, even if it means our very lives.

1 John 4:3
(3) And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The Antichrist spirit confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh...this is a spirit of rebellion that does not realize, acknowledge, submit to the Lordship and Life of Jesus Christ. This Antichrist spirit submits to the things of the world, to the life and lordship of the world, riches, materialism, silver, gold, and submission to man.

The deceptiveness about this Antichrist spirit is it's characteristic of hypocrisy; religious Christians in this category merely “confess” that Jesus Christ is Lord and that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh but they do not obey the commands of The Lord...they merely say Lord, Lord but don't do the things The Lord commands...

Matthew 7:19-23
(19) Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
(20) Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
(21) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
(22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
(23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

It is interesting to note that the ‘Confess Jesus Christ is come in the flesh’ is in present tense and not past. Christ Jesus dwells in those who obey his commands, those who love Him, His saints, His True Church…and in Him we live, move, and have our being.
Acts 17:28
(28) For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

'Is come' in Greek...

G2064
ἔρχομαι
erchomai
er'-khom-ahee
Middle voice of a primary verb (used only in the present and imperfect tenses, the others being supplied by a kindred [middle voice] word, ἐλεύθομαι eleuthomai or ἔλθω elthō; which do not otherwise occur); to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively): - accompany, appear, bring, come enter, fall out, go, grow, X light, X next, pass, resort, be set.

So, the 'Is Come' in Greek is 'erchomai' generally meaning here...
• Accompany
• Appear
• Bring
• Come
• Enter
• Fall Out
• Go
• Grow
The life we live, we live in Christ Jesus and Jesus Christ in us. We don't live on our own but submit to His will and obey His commandments. Such a life is a life of the Cross, it is not a life of pleasures of this world as the Prosperity preachers desire us to believe.

Galatians 2:20
(20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

If Christ Jesus lives in us then we shall follow after His leading and example and not conform to the standards of this world.

For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever…as He walked, so does He still walk, and so will He walk and even so we ought to walk after His likeness and character...

Jesus Christ was not parading around in the best SUV, Corporate Jet, designer clothing, million dollar houses, fat bank accounts, expensive vacations and cruises...Jesus Christ lived a simple life, a life that was not attached to the riches of this world and not a friend to the powerful and the elite. Jesus Christ reached out to the sinners, sick and the poor of His day and so must we if Christ Jesus truly dwells in us and if we truly confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh....

James 4:4-5
(4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
(5) Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

Prosperity Preachers always speak about terms like 'increase', 'going to the next level', 'being fruitful', 'divine favor in the world and business', financial increase, influence...and many other blasphemous terms...what the Prosperity teachers are doing is conforming Christian to the world and submission to man...this is the spirit of the Antichrist that 'Confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh'...

Brothers and Sisters be forewarned that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God. Those preachers who seduce you to such philosophies are liars and wolves in sheepskin seeking only to destroy your faith in Christ Jesus.

Now, many prosperity preachers argue that they also take care of the poor, orphans and help the sick but this is just Hypocrisy 101; these greedy preachers simply throw money in orphanages and pretend to help the poor not because they love to but because they seek to use the poverty of the poor for their own gain...

They get more donations when they show pictures of the poor to their donors...they pretend to preach the gospel but what they preach is heresy...their care for the poor is nothing but pure hypocrisy...they are like the IMF and World Bank “giving” Africans “Grants” which they expect Africans to repay somehow somewhere sometime in the future back to the world's elite Bankers - IMF and World Bank.

John 15:4
(4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Hebrews 13:8
(8) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

1 John 2:6
(6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

So, we understand that the “confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” has to do with our total obedience to Jesus Christ, abiding in Him, He abiding in us and them we as a must, walking even as Jesus Christ walked…

We now understand that we must bear fruit and that fruit is the Life, character and likeness of Jesus Christ in us…walking just as He walked…acknowledging that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh…He abides in us even to this day, therefore His character and likeness is not just historical and past and irrelevant as the world says but is and must be manifest in us today…

So, we take a moment and ask our selves, did Jesus Christ live a life of materialism, worldliness, greed, sin, hate, murder, jealousy, political Christianity?…which things, sad to say is what many Christians are walking in today blinded by foolish pastors and so-called apostles (actually apostates) who are busy committing adultery with the world and loving the things of the world.

1 John 2:15-18
(15) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
(17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
(18) Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

The spirit of the Antichrist is that which causes men to love the world and hate Christ and become enemies of God. Brothers and Sisters, let us watch and be very careful, today's prosperity preachers are agents of the Antichrist regardless of if they know it or not...the gospel of prosperity, riches and materialism is one that conforms Christians to the standards of this world while hypocritically using The Name of Jesus Christ.

Now, you CANNOT love Jesus Christ and at the same time love the things of the world such as materialism, posh cars first class air travel, the best cars – SUVs, Gulf Stream Jets, Million Dollar houses, huge dollar bank accounts, fame, upper class neighborhoods, the rich, powerful politicians and so forth…all best the world can give…

The prosperity gospel conforms people to love the things of this world and as such makes Christians friends with this world and as such they become enemies of God.

You cannot love such and think that you are abiding in Christ Jesus…those who think in such a way are hoodwinked and bewitched by Satan himself…and such is the prosperity doctrine and purpose driven life of lies and a life outside Jesus Christ.

Those who live in such lies called “prosperity gospel” will never be fruitful with The Life of Jesus Christ in them…they will never ‘Confess, acknowledge, realize, assent, covenant, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh’; they will always say that “Jesus Christ CAME in the flesh”…such is the spirit of the Antichrist…the spirit of the world and love for the things of the world…the spirit that rejects continual submission to the Lordship, Character, and Likeness of Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:15-19
(15) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
(17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
(18) Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
(19) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

The Antichrist spirit is very much connected to the love of the world and things of the world...

Those who love the world and the things of the world have no love of the Father in them… These are they that refuse to ‘confess, acknowledge, and assent that Jesus Christ IS COME in the flesh’; they refuse the Lordship and Life of Christ Jesus in their personal lives…

Such is the Prosperity Movement…this Movement is one that promises Christians riches here on earth and the best of the world here in this dying world that is certainly passing away. The prosperity movement is one that subtly indoctrinates its believers to love the world and the things of the world and in the process, they do away with the Love of The Father and ‘Confess Not that Jesus Christ IS COME in the flesh’…this is a movement of rebellion and as such it is an Antichrist Movement.

Sad to note is the fact that many churches here in Africa are being swept by this diabolical movement called the prosperity and purpose driven movement… TBN TV is the greatest dispenser of this World Love prosperity and purpose driven venom from the Antichrist.

I sometimes wonder why these TBN guys don’t stop their broadcasts here in Africa…we don’t need such venom, we are tired of it and please TBN keep your Antichrist programming to yourself. We shall have our bibles, those will be enough for us.

We are tired of such lies like “Enjoying Everyday Life” with Joyce Meyer, not forgetting Benn Hinn’s Jet purchase campaigns…

Benn Hinn says that we should give him money so he can buy a new plane and that we so send him to preach the gospel around the world…we are tired of such lies, we don’t see Jesus Christ in such, we don’t see, His character and likeness in such preachers but greed, materialism, covetousness, merchandising and selling of all those small idols Benn Hinn loves to call gifts for the price of donations from his viewers, and sure enough this is an Antichrist spirit!

Sad and so sad is the fact that the ‘emperor walks naked’ and does not even realize it…the TBN promotion of such filth around the world is such and simply a walking naked emperor here on Africa’s airwaves.

Revelation 3:17-18
(17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
(18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

What amazes me is the fact that despite heavy criticism against the prosperity movement and its preachers, many of them still continue to stubbornly preach this Antichrist Gospel of riches, fame, ‘getting to the next level’ “being fruitful” which is nothing other than love for the world.

Brethren, truly this is the last hour just as The Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles warned us 2000 years ago about the great deception that would happen prior to The Lord's Second coming.

The storms of deception are blowing left and right and against the people of God, those who call themselves after the name of The Lord.

Deception is so rampant that Pastors of churches and Christians are giving themselves over to the overt love for the things of the world.

The deception is packaged to seduce Christians in accepting a “good” life in the world. They are promised the 'best in the world' if they 'saw' seeds of faith... The talk in Christendom these days is about being “fruitful” and getting to the “next level” but the fruitfulness spoken about by these imposters who pretend to be pastors is all about getting more influence, materialism, riches and money in the world.

The “next level” that these false apostles speak about is all about “getting to the next level” in the social ladders of the affluent societies...this is the gospel of elitism and it only leads towards destruction.

Sad it is to say that the greatest proponents today are the Western Preachers and Pastors, almost 99 per cent of TBN TV is about the promotion for love of the world and the things of the world.

We in Africa are daily being bombarded by the false teachings on TBN about a “good life”, “being fruitful”, and “ getting to the next level” by mainly American preachers and America-nized preachers...

When one turns on Christian TV, all you see and hear is a gospel that speaks not about the cross of Jesus Christ but about “making it in life”, all we hear constantly is the heresy and error by such speakers as Joyce Meyer, and not to mention Kenneth Copeland and his “Faith” programs...all these guys do is speak about being conformed to the world...

Brethren, those who want blunt discernment concerning TBN TV, here is it...this is a TV that promotes a false gospel, another gospel, a gospel of the Antichrist, a gospel that conforms believers to love the world and to get justification from man. Yes, regardless of how many innocent and sincere preachers are on this TV, they have been blinded by the god of this world and to seduce and deceive believers in loving the world while hypocritically singing the Name of Jesus Christ.

These are the last days and the Antichrist does not come dressed in Halloween attire, the Antichrist comes dressed in business attire - in a corporate suit and a briefcase full of 100 US Dollars bill notes, credit and debit cards, with a brand new SUV, flies in a personal corporate Gulf Stream jet, being welcomed on pulpits every Sunday, and having his programs aired across the world on "Christian TV", while promising millions peace, prosperity, and a good life here on earth...

It is no wonder that his (antichrist) gospel connects well with the elite political establishment; they are all seeking peace and prosperity...and the establishment know that what some “Christians” need today is just money and 'making it in life', the very thing the Antichrist is willing to offer in his peace and prosperity initiatives...

1 Timothy 6:3-10
(3) If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
(4) He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
(5) Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
(6) But godliness with contentment is great gain.
(7) For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
(8) And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
(9) But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
(10) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

For the love of money is the source of all evil...don't be deceived, you cannot serve Jesus Christ and at the same time serve money...the prosperity preachers are liars and deceivers who desire us to believe that we can love Jesus Christ and money at the same time...those who heed these wolves who love to call themselves prosperity teachers and 'enjoying everyday life' preachers are doomed for destruction...brethren, repent!

Brethren, come out from such, be separate and The Lord will receive you...Amen

Revelation 18:4
(4) And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18
(14) Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
(15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
(16) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
(18) And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.