POPE FRANCIS’ CATASTROPHIC TEACHINGS

Pope Francis emphasized interfaith dialogue and respect for Muslims, building on the Second Vatican Council’s teachings, particularly Lumen Gentium 16 and Nostra Aetate 3, which state that Muslims “together with us adore the one, merciful God” and worship the Creator, linking their faith to Abraham. He taught that Muslims, like others, can achieve salvation if they seek God sincerely and follow their conscience, as per the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 846-847). His approach focused on shared values—mercy, peace, and fraternity—rather than doctrinal differences, such as the Trinity or Jesus’ divinity.

Key actions include co-authoring the 2019 Document on Human Fraternity with Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb, promoting peace and coexistence, and citing Muslim poet Ali al-Khawas in Laudato Si’ to highlight shared spiritual insights. In Fratelli Tutti (2020), he drew on Muslim collaboration to underscore universal fraternity. His 2013 Holy Thursday foot-washing of a Muslim prisoner and visits to Muslim-majority countries like the UAE and Iraq reinforced his message of mutual respect.

However, his statement in the Document on Human Fraternity that “the pluralism and diversity of religions… are willed by God” sparked controversy. Critics, like some X users, accused him of relativism, arguing it undermines Christ’s unique role in salvation.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.John 14:6

What Pope Francis taught made him a perfect candidate for the prophesied Biblical end-times False Prophet. In the article in The Spectator, “The Catholic Church must free itself from this ‘toxic nightmare’ written by the late Cardinal George Pell shortly before his death, described Francis’ papacy as ‘catastrophic’. Pope Francis is dead, so it will be interesting to see who the cardinals elect as his successor. Bearing in mind that 135 cardinals will elect the next pope, and Pope Francis picked 108 of them.

END OF YEAR PROPHETIC ROUND-UP 2024

Jonathan Cahn reviews the key prophetic events and mysteries of 2024 as we head into the next.

Apostasy in the church is a major Biblical end-times prophecy. Jonathan shows us that the Pope has led the way with apostasy and that most institutional/denominational churches have also fallen away from Biblical truth. Could the Pope be the Biblical False Prophet? More recently, the pope’s decision to have a special pilgrimage for the LGBT community in the 2025 Jubilee Year, titled “Church: Home for All, LGBT+ Christians and Other Existential Frontiers” proves he has departed from Biblical faith and is leading the Catholic church into apostasy. What he is proposing will involve a prayer vigil for LGBT Catholics on September 5th, 2025 at the Church of the Gesù in Rome. They will then pass through the Holy Doors of St. Peter’s on September 6th.

The world cannot see it but the choice is clear. It is repent or perish, revival or ruin, Christ or chaos.

AGAIN POPE FRANCIS PROCLAIMS A FALSE GOSPEL

Pope Francis has never shied away from provocative statements or launching in new directions. But this time he seems to have gone all the way. Pope Francis recently proclaimed “a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6).

During a three-day visit to Singapore, Pope Francis declared that “all religions are a path to God.” He boldly proclaimed, “There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sheik, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths (to God).”

Someone in the Secretariat of State thought that remark needed a little massage, though, so the official Vatican translation added a verb and something that is either a participle or a gerundive, depending on how you diagram the sentence: “All religions are seen as paths trying to reach God.”

After a day or so of online invective and—presumably—more than a little back-and-forth within the Comms apparatus, a new translation appeared: “All religions are paths to God.”

If Francis and the official Vatican are correct, then Jesus was wrong when He stated,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me” John 14:6

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting lifeJohn 3:16

Jesus did not die on the cross to provide “one more way” of getting to God. He died for our sins because it was the only way we could be reconciled to our Father in Heaven.

God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them2 Corinthians 5:19

It is only through Christ that anyone can be reconciled to the Father. There simply is no other way, period.

If righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothingGalatians 2:21

In other words, if a person could get to God without Christ, the Father would never have sent His only Son to suffer the agony of crucifixion for our salvation.

Pope Francis proclaimed a counterfeit gospel in Singapore. It is “another gospel.” (Galatians 1:8) The pope’s teaching smacks of Universalism rather than Christianity. This false teaching completely contradicts the wisdom of the Gospel and the truth of Scripture and reveals that the Catholic church is an apostate church with most of the other denominational churches. Jesus said this would be a major end-times sign indicating His return is near.

Pope Francis sounded more like a politician than a prophet in Singapore. If you attempt to reduce Christianity to the level of every other religion, you strip it of its core tenets. There is only One God, and He is triune. And there is only one Gospel, and “it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

The world wants Christians to embrace the false gospel that Pope Francis unashamedly presented as truth. The big question is could Pope Francis be the Biblical prophesied end times False Prophet?

POPE FRANCIS CLAIMS HUMANS ARE FUNDAMENTALLY GOOD

Pope Francis drew scorn and accusations of heresy on social media Sunday for maintaining during his recent “60 Minutes” interview that the human heart is “fundamentally good.”

Pope Francis (front 3rd R) poses with religious leaders during a meeting at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican December 2, 2014. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano

Responding to interviewer Norah O’Donnell’s question regarding what gives him hope when he looks at the world, the pontiff said “everything,” and then continued to list examples of people doing good things as evidence of humanity’s essential goodness. “You see tragedies, but you also see so many beautiful things,” he said. “You see heroic mothers, heroic men, men, who have hopes and dreams, women who look to the future. That gives me a lot of hope. People want to live. People forge ahead. And people are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.”

What does Pope Francis do with the following Scriptures and what world is he living in; when asked what gives him hope when he looks at the world – “Pope Francis said, everything“.

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it” Jeremiah 17:9

What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Ephesians 2:1-3

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.!” Mark 10:18

Pope Francis has put into practice the Church’s teaching—affirmed at the Second Vatican Council and echoed in the Catechism—that Muslims “together with us, adore the One, Merciful God.” Though there are certainly doctrinal differences between what Christians and Muslims profess about God, this does not preclude us from acknowledging the similarities we do have or from coming together (along with Jews and even others) to praise and petition our common God.

St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI also prayed publicly with Muslims in different capacities. In doing so, they all signal that Muslims’ prayers to God are valid and that they are directed to the same merciful God whom Catholics also strive to serve.

I often wonder who the False Prophet of Revelation will be. Could Pope Francis be a candidate? I believe his heretical views such as “the heart itself is good” and Muslims and Christians worship the same God make him a candidate but his age is a significant problem.

We are seeing Biblical prophesied end-times events increasing so we may not have long to wait to know the identity of both the False Prophet and the Antichrist.

IS THE POPE COMPROMISING WITH THE WORLD?

Pope Francis caused widespread controversy and confusion on Monday by appearing to allow priests to bless individuals and couples involved in unchaste same-sex marriages and unrecognized civil marriages, a decision faithful Catholics have said will “produce chaos” in people’s lives “and hurt souls.”

Pope Francis (front 3rd R) poses with religious leaders during a meeting at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican December 2, 2014. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano

The pope gave priests in the Roman Catholic Church, the world’s largest Christian denomination, “the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples,” as long as this is done “without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.” The decision came through a statement titled “On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings” (Fiducia Supplicans) signed by the 87-year-old pontiff and issued by the Vatican’s chief doctrinal guardian, the Dicastery (formerly the Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith, now led by close Francis ally and fellow Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández. The blessing is not to be a wedding Mass, nor a “liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion” that implies the Church has celebrated a wedding or nuptial service.

Yet when a couple in a same-sex relationship approach their church pastor, the priest now has papal authority to offer a blessing on them collectively which “unites intercessory prayer with the invocation of God’s help by those who humbly turn to him,” says the document, “a blessing that descends from God upon those who — recognizing themselves to be destitute and in need of his help — do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.”

Earlier this year, the Catholic bishops of Germany overwhelmingly approved a document — in direct defiance of Vatican directives — promoting the blessing of same-sex unions. The proposal classified homosexuality as “a norm variant of human sexuality” and urged bishops to “officially allow blessing ceremonies in their dioceses for couples who love each other but to whom sacramental marriage is not accessible or who do not see themselves at a point of entering into a sacramental marriage.”

One German prelate, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, tried to discipline a priest in his diocese for blessing same-sex unions. Woelki was promptly reprimanded by the Central Committee of German Catholics. Inspired by this, other priests in Woelki’s diocese disobeyed their bishop and the Vatican to host a rainbow-flag-studded gay blessing ceremony outside the Cologne cathedral. In a letter last month, Pope Francis admitted that Germany’s pro-LGBT bishops were trying to “steer” the Catholic Church in Germany “increasingly away from the universal Church’s common path.”

Meanwhile, bishops who boldly uphold a biblical understanding of sex and marriage, such as Texan Bishop Joseph Strickland or former Vatican official Cardinal Raymond Burke, are ostracized and penalized. However, the norms promulgated by the Vatican on Monday are abused, it is increasingly unlikely that the abusers will be reprimanded, but priests and bishops faithful to Scripture and the doctrines of the Catholic Church will still risk running afoul of the reigning pontificate, which the late Australian Cardinal George Pell described as a “catastrophe.”

This is surely another of the prophesied end times signs being fulfilled in our day. Paving the way for the false prophet and the Antichrist.

WILL FALLEN ANGELS BE ON THE EARTH IN THE LAST DAYS?

Thank goodness God told us in advance what will unfold in the last days before Jesus returns to Earth.

Satan and his demons are setting up the world, particularly young people, for demonic activity on Earth. They are already appearing as aliens. As well, most of the games our young people are playing online, and more movies, are about aliens. More reports of UFO sightings are being reported in the media.

We know that the fallen angels are going to be on the earth at the mid-point of the seven years before Jesus’ returns to Earth. Notice in Revelation 12:4 that it says, Archangel Michael is fighting Satan and Satan is defeated.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation 12:7-9

This will happen so we know that spiritual warfare will then be intense with Satan and his demons on Earth. Satan will do his utmost to hang on to dominion over the Earth. This is now all he has left.

Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! Revelation 12:12

What happens when Satan is cast down to Earth. We are told that his first priority is the Jews and we learn that God intervenes and provides a sanctuary for His Jewish remnant for 3 1/2 years.

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman (Israel) who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.Revelation 12:13-14

Note: Satan does his utmost to destroy God’s Jewish remnant but God steps in again:

The serpent (Satan) poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.Revelation 12:15-16

So what does Satan do next? He turns his wrath onto the Saints, those that hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.Revelation 12:17

Enter the Antichrist, Satan decides to counterfeit Jesus Christ by taking over the body of a human. He even counterfeits a seeming resurrection from the dead.

And to it (Antichrist) the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?Revelation 13:2-4

Satan working through the Antichrist is given 42 months (3 1/2 years) and is allowed to make war against the Saints and to conquer them.

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.Revelation 13:5-8

We are also told about a second person who is taken over by an evil spirit, the false prophet. He exercises all the authority of the Antichrist. He has supernatural powers and he causes everyone who does not take the mark of the Beast to be slain.

It (the False Prophet) exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also, it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.Revelation 13:12-17

In the next post, I will focus on what God is doing during this time. The ministry of the two witnesses is powerful. I am confident they will be Moses and Elijah who will be a powerful witness to the Jews and encouragement to Messianic Jews and Christians.

LINK BETWEEN THE MAHDI AND THE ANTICHRIST

What both leading Muslim scholars, Sunni and Shia, declare: Islam allows the accumulation of sufficient force to “terrorize the enemy and deter against an attack upon Muslims.” The “prevention of Muslims from the production of weapons of mass destruction … while other countries are allowed to do this – causes general, great and large damage upon all Muslims.”

It is thus permissible for Muslims to produce WMDs “in order to seek balance in armed conflict between them and hostile forces.” The achievement of strategic balance with the enemy is not only legitimate but religiously obligatory. “It is possible for an Islamic state to use this type of weapon if the enemy uses it, or it is thought likely that the enemy is poised to use it. It is why Iran is determined to have nuclear weapons.

The achievement of strategic balance with the enemy is not only legitimate but religiously obligatory.

When recognized Islamic scholars speak, all Muslims listen. When those scholars state clearly that it is a religious obligation to produce nuclear weapons of mass destruction to ward off the infidels, and that Islam sanctions use of such weapons if “it is thought likely that the enemy is poised to use it,” you can see why everyone in the world should be nervous about Islamists getting within a million miles of nuclear weapons.

Who Will Unite Muslims and Take On the West?

What kind of leader would be needed to unite an extremely disparate group of Muslims around the world, tired of Western domination and seeking earnestly to “prepare” the world for Allah’s final judgment as the “last, best revelation of God” is presented to all? This man would have to have unusual gifts of diplomacy, holiness, charm, wisdom, and the ability to gain the admiration and respect of Muslims worldwide. Well, you should know that Muslims are already waiting for this man, with 42 percent in a recent survey believing the Islamic superman will appear in their lifetime. His name is al-Mahdi, the “Rightly Guided One,” who has been discussed since the earliest days of Islam. This Islamic messiah was referred to by Muhammad’s grandson, Ali, who said that Islam would “prevail over all religions … when the Messiah of this ummah (Islamic nation) makes his appearance.

All branches of Islam throughout history are expecting the al Mahdi, as revealed by this quote from what has been called the greatest Islamic history book from the pre-modern era: “Let it be known that it is a narrated event by ALL Muslims in EVERY era that at the end of time a man from the family of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) will, without fail, make his appearance and will strengthen Islam and spread justice; Muslims will follow him and he will gain domination over the Muslim realm. He will be called al-Mahdi.

He will appear just as mankind reaches a stage of great suffering, to show the light of Islam when men and women need it most, and to prepare the world for Allah’s judgment just in time, according to accepted Islamic teaching.

He will reappear on the appointed day, and then he will fight against the forces of evil, lead a world revolution and set up a new world order based on justice, righteousness, and virtue … ultimately the righteous will take the world administration in their hands and Islam will be victorious over all the religions.

If this sounds like the Antichrist, you can see why many of us who have studied Islam for years believe that Mahdi will be that man. One Muslim background Believer who has done a lot of speaking and writing about al-Mahdi, Walid Shoebat, says that as he read scriptural prophecy for the first time, he was astonished by the description of the Antichrist. His conclusion? This is the Mahdi (Mehdi) that we have long talked about in Islam.

Other aspects of Mahdi’s profile include: He will be from the line of Fatimah, Muhammad’s first wife, and become a public figure at the age of forty. Physically, he will have a high forehead and hooked nose, according to prophecies traced back to Muhammad.

He will center his operations in Karbala, Iraq, according to Shiites. A hadith of Muhammad says that he will sweep across the Middle East and set up his reign in Jerusalem. That reign will, of course, be headquartered at the Dome of the Rock, the mosque in Jerusalem

He will have miracle-working power, which will impress the Islamic community and verify his status as a special instrument of Allah. One teaching says, “In the Last Days of the ummah, the Mahdi will appear. Allah will give him power over the wind and the rain, and the earth will bring forth its foliage.”
He will guide Muslims to great wealth, but he will not lead a profligate lifestyle. Instead, he “will give away wealth profusely, flocks will be in abundance, and the ummah will be large and honored.” Likewise, “A man will stand and say, ‘Give to me Mahdi!’ and he will say, ‘Take.’”
He will rule over the world for seven years, according to most accounts, including those that claim to trace this time span back to Muhammad’s prediction. This will feature a seven-year “peace agreement” between the “Arabs and the Romans,” what many believe will be between Islam and the West. Such parallels with Scripture are no accident, according to many. He will be assisted by “Jesus,” who will descend, probably in Damascus, from heaven to work miracles and preach Islam. “Jesus will testify against those who had called him son of God, the Christians, and those who had belied him, the Jews.” I think this Islamic version of Jesus fits the description of the Antichrist’s assistant in Revelation 13 perfectly.

While Mahdi straightens out the ummah by “freeing Islam from the hypocrites who have corrupted it,” this Jesus will handle the evangelization of the Jewish and Christian communities.

The end result? “Jesus” will summon Christians and Jews “to live by the Qu’ran by purging them of the errors into which they have fallen. As Christians follow the Prophet Isa [Jesus], the Christian and Islamic world will unite in a single belief, and the world will enjoy a period of great peace, security, happiness, and well-being, known as the Golden Age.”[210]
Here is a fitting capstone to describe al-Mahdi: “He is the precursor of the victory of the Truth and the fall of all tyrants. He heralds the end of injustice and oppression and the beginning of the final rising of the sun of Islam which will never again set and which will ensure happiness and the elevation of mankind … The Mahdi is one of Allah’s clear signs which will soon be made evident to everyone.” Muhammad ibn Izzat, Muhammad Arif, Al Mahdi and the End of Time (London: Dar Al-Taqwa, 1997).

And, he will rule from Jerusalem, according to a hadith from Muhammad: Jerusalem will be the location of the rightly guided caliphate and the center of Islamic rule, which will be headed by Imam al-Mahdi … that will abolish the leadership of the Jews … and put an end to the domination of the Satans who spit evil into people and cause corruption in the earth, making them slaves of false idols and ruling the world by laws other than the sharia of the Lord of the worlds.

These Islamic prophecies are not from an infallible source. However, if the entire Islamic world is looking for a Messiah who will arise from the Biblical prophesied nation and accomplish all that the Biblical prophecies say the Antichrist will do it is unlikely it is a coincidence.

POPE PLANS TO VISIT IRAQ IN MARCH 2021

Pope Francis recently announced he would visit Iraq for the first time in early March, 2021. He is scheduled to visit Baghdad, the southern city of Ur and the Christian heartland of Nineveh province.

Iraq’s Christian community has witnessed years of conflict and targeted attacks, forcing many to flee. From 1.4 million three decades ago, its population has come down to an estimated less than 400,000.

Days before Christmas, the Muslim-majority country’s parliament announced that Christmas will now be an annual national holiday.

The Pope’s announcement has sprung hope in Karemlash, a predominantly Christian town on the Nineveh Plains about 18 miles southeast of Mosul and which was once held by the Islamic State terror group.

“We hope this visit can prevent demographic change, preserve the identity of our region, and prompt the government to seriously start rebuilding our areas,” St. Adday’s priest, Fr. Thabet al-Mekko, said, according to AFP. “We’ve started the countdown. We need to feel closer to the Christian community in the rest of the world.”

Responding to the pope’s announcement, Zuhair Mansour, a 50-year-old school principal in Karemlash, said, “It could be the step in building peace in this wounded country.” Martin Banni, the priest at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad, called the pope’s decision “a great, wonderful Christmas gift.”

Pope Francis has signed a covenant with major leaders of the world's religions, declaring them all equal in the eyes of God.
Pope Francis claims Islam and Christianity are equal In The Eyes of God

Pope Francis, who has previously called for a “one-world government” to “save humanity”, signed in 2019 a historic covenant with leaders of the world’s major faiths, pushing us much closer to a one-world religion.

Is this proposed visit by Pope Francis to Iraq in March 2021 one step closer to the biblical “end times” one world religion? Could he be the false prophet? If he is we know his end.

And the beast (Antichrist) was captured and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.” Revelation 19:20

ENCOUNTERING MISGUIDED PROPHECIES

This story provides an important lesson in the what we do with prophetic messages, regardless of who gives them, particularly when they relate to God’s call on your life.

Twenty-three-year-old George Whitefield sat on a ship ready to sail for America from the port of Deal, located approximately 70 miles southeast of London. For some time, he had experienced a compelling call to preach the gospel to colonial America and now the day for his departure had finally arrived. His heart was filled with gratitude, excitement and expectation.

As he waited for the ship’s crew to hoist anchor and sail, a letter was delivered to him from John Wesley who had just returned from a failed mission to Georgia. He opened the letter and was stunned by what he read. Wesley wrote that when he saw that the same wind that brought him in was taking Whitefield out, he inquired of the Lord about Whitefield’s journey. Wesley emphatically stated that the word God gave him for Whitefield was, “Let him return to London.”

Whitefield was shocked and momentarily confused. Wesley was 10 years his senior and had been a mentor to him. He held the Wesley brothers, John and Charles, in very high esteem. However, this word from John contradicted everything he believed about his call to America.

Whitefield went to prayer, and as he prayed, there came to his mind a story from the Old Testament about a “man of God” who lost his life because he listened to the words of an “old prophet” instead of diligently adhering to what God had instructed him.

I Kings 13 tells this story of the unnamed “man of God” whom God instructed to go to Bethel and prophesy against the idolatrous altars that had been established there by King Jeroboam. God also instructed him not to stop to eat or drink but to return directly home to Judah when he had completed his assignment.

Based on this directive from the Lord, he went to Bethel. As he prophesied against the idolatrous altars, they miraculously split apart, and the ashes were poured out on the ground. As he departed Bethel according to the Lord’s instructions, an “old prophet,” who heard of what had happened, saddled his donkey, caught up with the “man of God” and invited him to his home to eat and drink.

When the “man of God” recounted to the “old prophet” what the Lord had instructed him, the “old prophet” said, “‘I am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat bread and drink water'” (1 Kings 13:18). The “old prophet,” however, was lying.

The “man of God” went back with the “old prophet” in contradiction to the instructions the Lord had given him; and as a result of his disobedience, he lost his life and was not buried in the burial ground of his ancestors.

With this story so vividly impressed on his mind, Whitefield knew what he must do. He sent back a reply to Wesley in which he said, “I cannot return to London.” Whitefield said no to Wesley’s “thus saith the Lord.”

History has demonstrated that Whitefield made the correct decision, for he became the major figure in the Great Awakening that rocked Colonial America and prepared her for statehood. Everywhere he went, great revival followed his preaching.

Because of God’s blessing on his labors, he became the most recognizable person in colonial America and Thomas S. Kidd, who teaches history at Baylor University, calls him “America’s Spiritual Founding Father.”

We can all be thankful that Whitefield said no to Wesley’s “thus saith the Lord.”

POPE FRANCIS ON THE GOSPEL

Pope Francis has certainly said a lot of controversial things over the years, but what he just told a group of Christian high school students is the most controversial of all. I know that may be hard to believe, because some of the statements that Pope Francis has made in recent years have definitely been extremely bizarre. For example, he has said that “Muslim terrorism does not exist,” he told a gay man that “God made you that way” and he has referred to Christian fundamentalists as “a scourge.” But what he has just said tops all of those previous statements. According to Breitbart, Pope Francis told a group of high school students he was visiting with that they should never try to convert others to Christianity:

Pope Francis

Pope Francis told Christian high school students this weekend they should respect people of other faiths and not attempt to convert them to Christianity, insisting “we are not living in the times of the crusades.”

Asked by one of the students Friday how a Christian should treat people of other faiths or no faith, the pope said that “we are all the same, all children of God” and that true disciples of Jesus do not proselytize.

In fact, the Pope went on to say that if someone comes to you and is trying to share the gospel, that individual “is not a disciple of Jesus”:

“But listen, the gospel is never, ever advanced through proselytism,” he continued. “If someone says he is a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, he is not a disciple of Jesus. Proselytism is not the way; the Church does not grow by proselytism.”

And in case there were some students who were confused about what he had just said, Pope Francis made the exact same point one more time:

Football teams proselytize, this can be done. Political parties, can be done there. But with faith there is no proselytism.

So there you have it, according to Pope Francis, Christians are never supposed to try to convert anyone.

But this would seem to directly contradict the words of Jesus. The following are just a few examples.

Matthew 28:18-20

Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Mark 16:15-16

He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned.”

Acts 1:8

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Of all the things that Pope Francis has ever said, this has to be the most damning of all. He is at least demonstrating an antichrist spirit.

Does he really want billions of people to have no hope?

Without Jesus, there is no hope and no future for anyone.