THE ECUMENICAL BEAR HUG OF POPE FRANCIS AND KENNETH COPELAND

25 February 2014

The Ecumenical Bear Hug of Pope Francis and Kenneth Copeland

Pope Francis

After the strange fire burns, what remains? It would not be unreasonable to argue that out of the ashes of strange fire, which itself is ignited by the Great Deceiver, will emerge a more powerful ecumenical movement than has been seen in prior times.

No group has more invested in this ecumenical, unbiblical unity than the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps that is why it was not surprising to read the story below. Stand Up for the Truth reports:

We are galloping toward a one-world melding of religions, and the ramifications are staggering. Pope Francis has now sent a video message to Word of Faith father Kenneth Copeland, urging a reconciliation between Catholics and Charismatics.

“The Catholic and Charismatic Renewal is the hope of the Church,” exclaims Anglican Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer, before a group of cheering followers at the Kenneth Copeland Ministries. Palmer said those words are from the Vatican. Before playing the video message from Pope Francis to Kenneth Copeland, Palmer told the crowd, “When my wife saw that she could be Catholic, and Charismatic, and Evangelical, and Pentecostal, and it was absolutely accepted in the Catholic Church, she said that she would like to reconnect her roots with the Catholic culture. So she did.”

The crowd cheered, as he continued, “Brothers and sisters, Luther’s protest is over. Is yours?”

Even Kenneth Copeland finds this development incredible: Said Copeland, “Heaven is thrilled over this…You know what is so thrilling to me? When we went into the ministry 47 years ago, this was impossible.”

(Source)

Here is the video clip of what was described above as Bishop Tony Palmer introduced his message that day at the church of Kenneth Copeland, who some would argue is one of the most dangerous charismatic charlatans in business today:


Now here is the message from Pope Francis to Kenneth Copeland, as recorded on Palmer's iPhone (a full transcript is available here):


One can hear that the Pope, speaking in Italian, declares that Christians are to blame for their divisions and so he prays “that he [the Lord] will unite us all.” Francis further states, “We should move forward. We are brothers. We should give each other a spiritual embrace and open ourselves to letting the Lord complete the work he started.”

The pope would desire that all unite in an ecumenical bear hug. But is that really the work of unity spoken of in the Bible? Or is the pope perhaps unwittingly talking about something else? Here is what the Bible says about the coming one-world religion:

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

(Revelation 17:1–18)

Pope Francis already has made it quite clear that he desires to make the road to his false heaven as easy as possible for all people to travel:

Responding to a list of questions published in the paper by Mr Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: “You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying – and this is the fundamental thing – that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.

“Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience.”

(Source)

The road to Rome will be paved by the footprints of professing evangelicals, charismatics and eventually atheists, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims. The road to Rome is one of false, demonic unity and it ultimately leads to eternal condemnation. Yet, many so-called evangelicals are content to wave people down this road as evidenced by such efforts as Evangelicals and Catholics Together and the more recent Manhattan Declaration. And these two documents are not the only evidence of this. Other groups, churches and leaders are aiding in these same dangerous efforts.

Christian, do you know what you believe? Are you prepared to stand upon it, to defend it at all costs? Are you determined that you will never compromise the gospel of Christ for the sake of men? Unity of the brethren, yes, but never unity at the expense of truth.

Further Reading
Pope Francis Lies to All People, Says Belief in God Not Necessary for Forgiveness
Pope Francis: 'When We Encounter the Cross, We Turn to Mary'
Pope Francis Does Not Know God
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