Posted on 04/12/2011 7:55:27 AM PDT by bkaycee
Can a born again Christian be a member of a cult and be involved in idol worship? I once thought this was an impossibility until it happened to me. Now I understand why Jesus warned us that, in the end times, there would be an appearance of great signs and miracles that would deceive even the elect, if possible. I confess I have been seduced by signs and miracles associated with apparitions of Mary, and I offer my testimony so others may be warned and delivered.
Until recently I was serving as Director of Public Relations for the Queen of Peace Center in Dallas, Texas. This non-profit organization disseminates information and messages from Marian apparitions in Medjugorje and around the world. I co-authored a full page ad that was published in the June 25, 1993, Dallas Morning News at a cost of $10,000. This add announced "Mary's" prescription for peace and listed locations of her recent appearances. It also listed phone numbers to call for up-to-day recorded messages of Mary's latest apparitions, such as the one in Dallas (214) 233-MARY. I once thought it was special to be the only non-Catholic on the Queen of Peace board . . . that is, until I met Mike Gendron and his wife, Jane.
A Divine Appointment
Neighbors and close friends of mine knew I was seriously contemplating becoming Roman Catholic. They told me that Mike had been a Roman Catholic for 37 years and was now a pastor at a non-denominational church in the Dallas area. They said he understood many of the issues involved in being Roman Catholic and could help me with my decision. I looked forward to meeting both Mike and his wife, not for my sake, but for theirs. I felt certain the information I had collected about "Our Lady's apparitions" in Medjugorje would surely lead them back home to the "true" (Roman Catholic) church. Providentially it appeared, I attended a Queen of Peace board meeting the night before we met and asked the board to pray for this lost pastor and his wife, who had fallen away. When I arrived at their door the next morning, I first introduced myself, before returning to my car for the large stack of books and newspapers I had brought to persuade them. The materials would help explain what was happening in Medjugorje and how the Virgin Mary would help change their lives.
Confronted by Contradictions
After we met, they showed me a film titled Catholicism: Crisis of Faith. This film lovingly and objectively contrasted how the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church contradicts the teachings of the Sacred Scriptures. Mike would stop the film after each segment for my questions and comments. Initially, I was argumentative and felt uneasy and rather adamant about what I was witnessing. Mike realized he had forgotten to pray before starting the film and asked if we could ask God to make His truth clear, and that all deception would be exposed. After the prayer my whole countenance changed.
Each question I asked, Mike validated his answers using Vatican II documents and an official Roman Catholic catechism. It was amazing to me how Roman Catholic teaching contradicts the very Word of God. Question after question, he would bring the Bible over to me and knell to show me verses in context. His servant's demeanor and patient, understanding heart helped in unraveling falsehood after falsehood. There wasn't a question I could have asked him that would have provoked anger. As a reflection of our Lord, this man allowed Jesus to pull the scales away from my eyes.
There were three things in the film and our discussion that were most alarming to me. First, a church in South America has Mary placed on a crucifix rather than Christ. It reminded me of my visit to Our Lady of Guadeloupe Cathedral in downtown Dallas where Mary is positioned as the focal point at the alter and the crucifix is placed in another part of the church. These two scenes made me realize idolatry is practiced within the church.
Second, the Roman Catholic Catechism by Rev. William Cogan, now in its 44th year of print, has altered the 10 commandments of God. The 2nd commandment given to Moses reads, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:4). The Roman Catholics have deleted this commandment but still came up with ten by splitting the 10th one into two separate commands. "You shall not covet your neighbor's good; and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife" (Exodus 20:17). I was reminded of the scriptural warnings for those who add to or subtract from the Bible.
Third, Mike told me the only place in the Bible in which the queen of heaven was referred to was in the Book of Jeremiah. He encouraged me to study the passage and it would expose another false doctrine concerning Mary. Anyone who is familiar with the prayers and meditations of the rosary can tell you that in one of the mysteries Christ supposedly crowned Mary the queen of heaven after she was assumed into heaven. Neither of these events have scriptural validity, but I had decided to blindly accept these doctrines because all of the other meditations on the life of Christ were verified by Scripture.
The Queen of Heaven
After returning home, I looked in the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible for the passage in Jeremiah 44. Here, the Lord was angered by the wickedness of the people choosing to serve other gods. The people refused to listen to the Lord. Instead, they would "burn sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pour out libations to her." The woman "made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out libations to her?" (Jeremiah 44:17, 19).
In Hebrew the word for queen has reference to "the heavenly handiwork" or "the stars of heaven." The reference might be to Ishtar, the goddess of love and fertility, who is identified with the Venus Star and is actually entitled "Mistress of Heaven." (The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 975)
My head was spinning and filled with questions after reading this. Doesn't Mary usually appear with stars for her crown? Who then is the woman in Revelation 12:3-6? And most importantly, why would the Roman Catholic Church give the mother of Jesus the title of a pagan goddess? Had I been promoting the ministry of a pagan goddess whose messages were inconsistent with the Bible? Indeed her messages do contradict the Bible. In fact, she speaks of another gospel, another plan of salvation that nullifies and opposes the all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus. The apparition of Fatima said, "You have seen Hell where the souls of poor sinners go, so save them, God wishes to establish in the world, devotion to my Immaculate Heart." The apostle Paul condemned anyone, even an angel from heaven, who would dare preach a different way to be saved other than through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ (Galatians 1:6-10).
As for the woman described in Revelation, she is not Mary, the mother of Jesus, but God's chosen people, the Jews. When the passage in chapter 12 is read in context with the rest of the book, and Genesis 37:9-10, this clearly refers to the nation Israel. God fulfills His promise to the Jews, by protecting them in the desert during 3 1/2 years of tribulation.
I later realized my prayers to Mary and the saints, the reciting of rosaries and chaplets of divine mercy, and the wearing of Marian medals and scapulars had taken my focus off of Jesus. I had allowed doctrines of the Roman Catholic church to do the very thing Saint Paul warned against, "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." (2 Cor. 11:3).
An Angel of Light
Recently, a person whom I love dearly, and who has a "Marian devotion" asked me, "Why are you bothering the people who are already good people instead of worrying about those who are lost?" The answer came to me the other evening as the Lord continues to guide me through His sacred Word. Saint Paul wrote that "Satan masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). We know the mother of Jesus would never oppose her Son, and since the apparitions do just that, they could very well be Satan masquerading as Mary. Saint Paul also wrote, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them . . . everything exposed by the light becomes visible" (Ephesians 5:11-14). Therefore, I feel called to expose these attempts by the evil one to divert people's devotion away from Jesus. The most authoritative way to do this is with the light of God's Holy Word. My new test for truthfulness is -- if it does not agree with the Scriptures then it must be rejected.
Freedom in the Truth
Now that I have torn down the altar in my bedroom, where I knelt and prayed to St. Anthony of Padua each night, and now that I have placed my rosaries, scapular and medals away, I have found a new freedom. The truth really does set people free! I have found special peace in knowing Jesus alone is my Savior, and not co-redemptrix with His mother. The Holy Spirit continues to lead me into all truth and is now the only teacher I need (1 John 2:27).
To all my precious friends who I have encouraged to seek Mary and to obey the misleading messages of her apparitions, I pray these Scriptures would minister to you -- "And it came about while He said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which you nursed.' But He said, 'On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it." (Luke 11:27-28)
This article was submitted by a former Director for a "Mary, Queen of Peace Center."
I did a quick search on “St. Peter” as used to name churches in various denominations. The term is used that way for the ones you describe plus (on the protestant side), Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal/Anglican, Presbyterian, Church of Christ and even a few Baptist ones. As I’m at work, I didn’t have time to delve much further, but it would seem that a great many traditional Christian denominations use the term consistently.
There might be a confusion in terms here. In a Catholic Church, the altar is where Eucharistic Sacrifice is offered.
” Accusations of lying? Care to cite any examples on this thread or is this something you just post in all debates with Protestants?”Interesting response. Let me see if I understand your response in a nutshell.
1. You dont like the link, Mike Gedron reaching out to catholics = anti-Catholic.
2. Your not impressed with the location for "Queen of Peace Center", ok.
3. Only Catholics should run a Marian center, ok, whatever.
4. Mike Gendron, evangelzing Catholics = anti-Catholic = liar?
5. Mike Gendron, bliblical arguments = bigotry,... check.
6. Posting an anti-Catholic fake article? Understandable guess.
7. My post of "fake" article = lie, I'm bad = anti-Catholic. I must admit, I posted this in reaction to a few "Mary in the grill cheese" posts and the TV coming home commercials.
I guess you summed it up for yourself,
"You post an anti-Catholic fake article on a Catholic hating bigot’s web site and get huffy when I put a warning sticker on your actions. You want me to point out the lies? Start with what you posted, slick. (As I perceive it, of course.)Thanks for the reply, i was hoping to get more in the way of examples of actual lies, but don't worry about. I don't want to take any more of your time.
Even here on this thread, we see the Catholics demanding that the RF be run the way they want.
The caucus designation apparently isn’t good enough for them. It only allows them to control their threads so labeled.
Honestly, NOBODY is forcing them to participate on open threads. If they don’t like them, they are certainly free to avoid them. The RM keeps telling them that if they’re that thin skinned that they should stick to caucus threads, but they don’t get it. Maybe they need a papal bull from the Vatican or some apparition of Mary to tell them that before it’ll sink in.
It’s not really all that hard to figure out.
I was unceremoniously booted from a Catholic caucus thread on which I posted complete support for the man involved in the issue, simply because of who I was (and I was told so in no uncertain terms). And yet they feel they can crash another denomination’s caucus thread without repurrcussion and when they’re told to stay off, they pitch a fit.
Go figure.
Control issues. It’s the only reason that makes sense.
The RF is for ALL religions, but apparently Catholicism brooks no competition.
Don’t worry about taking any more of Irish Catholics time.
He has been escorted from the building.
I am not lying.
Perhaps some do, but it the article mentioned another denomination, then it’s the responsibility of the poster to not put the caucus label on it in the first place.
Or do they post without reading the article through?
The vast majority of Christians on earth call Simon Johnson Saint Peter. The subject coming up in the way it was broached is just an example of a fisherman trying one lure after another in hopes of getting a bite. In reality, whatever is the norm within the Catholic Church is the norm for the majority of Christians on Earth and has been for the past two thousand plus years.
Which protestant threads are you talking about?
I don’t recognize which participants on that thread are Catholic and which are not.
I know some of the obvious Catholic ones but would not not about the rest.
Your words are contrary to the Gospel, wherein Jesus Himself insists that His disciples are to follow the decisions of the Apostles.
There were a few back about the time of the whiner’s caucus thread- just before that.
I don’t recall specifically which ones they were.
We certainly should not be surprised when people hate the biblical Gospel of Grace and also Hate those who preach it.
Is it not a loving act to warn someone of impending doom, albeit not perfectly.
Salvation is by Grace alone, Through Faith alone, In Christ alone.
Not "faith" and works and mandatory belief in dogma unheard of by the early church.
Move the cursor somewhere on the page other than the picture and right click the mouse, look for “view source” or “view page source” - click on that and a window will come up showing all the HTML on the page.
About five? years ago, I accidentally went on a CC thread and some other poster did, also. We were bombarded with ‘are you catholic’ ‘are you catholic’ I said ‘I’m a christian’ and got more than one reply with - ‘then you aren’t catholic’, ‘can’t you read’?, ‘this is for catholics only’!
I laughed and got a PM from the other poster who did the same thing Then, I got a PM from a catholic who was on the thread and he said for me to come back on the thread and apologize to everyone there!! LOL! What a bunch of control freaks. I did get a great laugh at that and - once more - it gave me an opportunity to THANK GOD from rescuing me from that pit of Catholicism.
I still laugh remembering it because they reminded me of the libs I left at work and then to come home only to experience those same tactics - CONTROL/DEMAND/INTIMIDATION - on that CC thread.
I think Mary only gets a side corner of a church with rows of candles in front of her. I think she is also the patron saint of candles, in her spare time. :) only kidding.
So you read the bible only? Not biased sources then read the verses that are interpreted by some reformer wrote years ago. Every Sunday I declare Christ came in the flesh(human) 1 John 4 because I go to Catholic Mass. We confess Christ as our Savoir and Lord. For almost two thousand we declare the Nicene Creed.
1 John 4
1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3And 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.
I left the Catholic Church started to believe those old reformer writings. I left for a couple of years. Then I would take my mother to Mass. I hated it at first but I believed in honoring my mother like the commandment reads. To my astonishment The Holy Spirit would guide that what was being done is biblical. I would look it up too.
If and when they do take out or do not believe in 1 John 4. Thats when I will be running out of the church quicker than anyone. But in the mean time I will worship in the Church.
Praise Jesus and Hail Mary!
Now why "Hail Mary" because without Mary Christ would be the anti-Christ. He was born of a woman of mankind. Which means he is Divinity who became human through Mary. The flesh of her flesh. He did not take human dna and put it into rocks to make himself human. He decide to have a Mother. We was weaned from Mary. His diapers were changed by Mary. Yes! We sometimes forget he was even a baby. So of all the ways he could of come into the world he decide to have a mother. He did not come from a rib which was how the first woman came. But he obviously wanted a Mother.
AMEN!! AMEN!!!
Thank you.
Hmmmm....anecdotal evidence. No proof, just allegations.
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