The National Prayer Breakfast 2018: Another Jesus, Ecumenism, and Universalism on Display
READING TIME: 44 MINUTES
The following are the notes to the discussion found at these links for anyone for anyone who would like to study the subject more in depth: https://www.facebook.com/tammy.cheetham.77/videos/349289555570759/ Part 1 https://www.facebook.com/tammy.cheetham.77/videos/349289702237411/ Part 2
We wanted to discuss the National Prayer Breakfast that was held on Feb. 8 and we have so much information that we will have two discussions concerning this.
You know, a major problem with these prayer breakfasts is most people don’t stop to consider whether their attendance at such events pleases God. They don’t even stop and question whether God listens to prayers at such events because they just assume all prayer is a wonderful thing, but by the end of this discussion we pray people will understand that this prayer breakfast is just another tool Satan is using as he lays the foundation for the one world religion.
Here is some background information about the national prayer breakfasts from the intercessors for America website. “As national and international leaders gather in Washington, D.C. to pray together, cover them with your prayers for unity, protection, and the Gospel to be brought forth. On February 8, 2018, the annual National Prayer Breakfast will be held at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC for its 66th year. Every year on the first Thursday in February, worldwide leaders from over 100 countries gather with the U.S. President for the opportunity to form and fortify relationships with prayer as the cornerstone. (But, we would say that we cannot have unity with those from other religions, and as we will see when we discuss the president’s speech itself, another gospel was presented. And, again, we cannot have prayer with those of other faiths as a cornerstone for anything. So, we can easily see the concept of these prayer breakfasts is flawed from the start).
Continuing from the site: “The event is hosted by the U.S. Congress and organized by the Christian organization, The Fellowship Foundation, and comprises of luncheons, dinners, and meetings. Several guest speakers participate in the event, including a prestigious keynote speaker who is undisclosed until the breakfast. Previous speakers include Mother Theresa (1994), Bono (Baw-no) (2006), Tony Blair (2009), Dr. Ben Carson (2013), and Barry Black (2017). (You know, many people want to insist that the United States is a Christian nation, but here is one of many examples showing it is not. I mean, the Congress hosts an event, with prayer as its focus, and people from other religions are present? That shows we are a pluralistic nation, not a Christian one. And, these examples of speakers? Obviously, Mother Theresa was a Catholic; Baw-no may be considered a Christian by some, but I recently saw a picture of him wearing a headband with the Coexist logo; Tony Blair was an Anglican, but converted to Catholicism in 2007 which was two years before he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast; and, then, Dr. Ben Carson is SDA, as is Barry Black. Barry Black is the Senate chaplain).
And, just a little more from the site: “How did this begin? Norwegian immigrant and Methodist minister Abraham Vereide was dedicated to addressing the issue of poverty and wanted to gather and pray with local businessmen and politicians before heading to work. In 1942, when Vereide moved to Washington, he initiated these prayer groups with members of Congress, until it grew to include the President and other national and international leaders” (https://www.ifapray.org/blog/intercede-national-prayer-breakfast-thursday-feb-8/). (Well, straight away we see the roots of this event are tied in with the social gospel, rather than the true gospel. This Methodist minister wanted to address the issue of poverty rather than addressing the issue of lost souls. Jesus said the poor you will always have with you, as recorded in Matt. 26:11, which doesn’t mean we wouldn’t help poor people when we could, but where is the focus? On this life or the next? And, this Methodist minister didn’t seem to have any problem praying with those whose beliefs he did not know, and/or those who may not have been Christians. And, so this practice has carried on until present times with the same unbiblical foundation, except that we have the added problem of an emphasis on ecumenism in the “church” world today, and many will attend who have the label of Christian, but are not).
Before we go any farther we want to discuss the Fellowship Foundation itself and, sister Tammy, would you go ahead and present that information at this time?
(On the Home page of The Fellowship Foundation we find this information:
The Fellowship Foundation, also known as the International Foundation, is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage one another and people throughout the world to carry out the first and Great Commandment "to love God first" and "to love your neighbor as yourself". This is accomplished by seeking to adhere to the teachings and precepts of Jesus.
The people involved with the Foundation also develop friendships across all of the lines that typically divide people, including race, religion, politics, and socio-economic status. A fundamental pursuit of these friends is to serve people who are poor or disadvantaged. The Bible teaches this in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
The Bible talks about loving God and loving our neighbor, the Bible also speaks about a divide that will happen because of Him, that the truth will divide those that love Him and those that do not (Luke 12:51-53). The Jesus being portrayed from The Fellowship Foundation has a love that doesn’t rebuke sin, error and seeks to join altogether under a common purpose while professing this is the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus told people to repent and believe, that if they were not born again then they would not even see the Kingdom of God. Of course, again I will say, we are in this world, we live in a world where there will be numerous beliefs, but for the believer we do not join in fellowship under a banner of God claiming that Jesus just loves everyone, so we can all sit having a lovely time together where no actual message of what Jesus came do for the eternal soul is addressed! Jesus said, and I will repeat this as often as is necessary, that what would it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose their very soul? (Mark 8:36) He said you will be hated by all men for My Name’s sake! He said there will be two against three in the same house, even the closest of members in one’s family would be divided over truth. Now I am not saying we go around just being mean to anyone, but there is no way that the true believer can get away from the Bible prophecies which speak of a coming one world order which will include religion and politics and will be focused on “peace and safety”, making this world a better place before Jesus returns at the Second Coming and all will be a focus on what man can do to help man. The Bible tells us that there can be no fellowship with error for true believers and like I said before we cannot go out of this world, but to try coming together like this is not the faith we are to contend for and it certainly is encouraging people to accept this system instead of Jesus Christ as the solution for sinners and for all eternity.
The Bible tells us the friendship with the world is enmity with God, we are to come out from the joining together in this manner and to preach the Gospel. This is showing love to God and neighbor and the best way. I again am not stating don’t help the poor and disadvantaged, but preach them the Gospel and give the clear distinction of what faith you have and to expose the errors they are in and preaching, we are admonished to expose the unfruitful works of darkness and again have no fellowship with as is the case here.
The Catholic religion does not have the same Jesus as the Biblical Jesus and we see again in The Fellowship Foundation that these seem to believe that St Francis of Assisi was a Christian, as he was someone they quoted favorably on the “Jesus Model” header on their webpage.
I will read from their webpage this part and discuss some of the problems with this that we need understand.
Jesus' Model - What example did Jesus set for humanity? When He was asked, "What is the work of God?", He responded that the work was to believe in the one whom God had sent, that is to believe in Him. (John 6:29) Our common denominator is that we first work on ourselves to love God, to love our families, to love one another, and to seek to follow Jesus, as He is a great example in caring for others. When people asked Jesus various questions, He seldom answered directly and often responded "come and see" or "follow me". (John 1:38-39, 43) He was inviting them to fellowship with Him in small groups away from the crowd by working together, eating together, playing together, traveling together and resolving problems together. He was at the center of their devotion and their activities. When His disciples asked if they should oppose those who were not in their camp he told them, "No". (Mark 9:38-39) When the person of Jesus is examined apart from all the history and trappings of religion, people who would otherwise be alienated from religion in general and from each other in particular find common ground to build understanding, friendships and commitments. Jesus promised if He would be lifted up He would draw all people to himself. (John 12:32) Any group that focuses on Jesus instead of on their differences, problems or limitations will find the truth of his teaching that "nothing is impossible with God". (Matthew 19:26) That said, we prefer to follow the dictum of St. Francis of Assisi, who said, "Lift up Jesus, and when necessary use words."
First, work on ourselves to love God- I mean this is a false statement, besides all the other ecumenical errors, we repent and believe according to the Bible – Mark 1:15
John 3:16 also says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Follow Jesus – what Jesus do these portray? A social jesus that doesn’t tell people of sin and eternal life?
He was inviting them to fellowship with Him in small groups away from the crowd by working together, eating together, playing together, traveling together and resolving problems together –
Jesus ate with sinners with the intention of giving them the Gospel and was not hanging out with sinners as though He was okay with all they were getting involved in and never telling them about their souls. Jesus would fellowship with the brethren as they had the same Spirit to have the right fellowship, and as we know, fellowship does not mean we just never speak to unsaved people or those of other religions because how would they get to hear the truth, the problem is the yoking together and not any distinction and all a wrong focus on the purpose of them gathering.
Jesus did concern about the people’s physical needs but always made sure to give people the truth and deal with the Spiritual need most importantly. The Bible tells us bad company corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33) and not to sit in the seat of mockers (Psalm 1:1), we do need to use caution in the amount of time and relations we spend with unsaved people, if we are just hanging out with them having fun thinking they will come to Jesus, then more often than not the opposite happens and we are pulled down with them.
When His disciples asked if they should oppose those who were not in their camp he told them, "No". (Mark 9:38-39) – And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
This is not stating that this person casting out devils was not a believer in Christ, it is stating that this person was not in the group that was closely in the physical presence of Jesus like these disciples were, but he could have been one of the seventy, whom Christ had sent out, (Luke 10:1). No one really knows but please do not assume this was not a believer and use this as an excuse to go against the other verses what tell us to mark and avoid those bringing another doctrine. (Romans 16:17).
Jesus promised if He would be lifted up He would draw all people to himself. (John 12:32) – The Jesus again that needs to be lifted up is the one that came to save and to seek the lost, to forgive people of their sins and said do not get caught up in the affairs of this life! The Jesus that said in the last days many false prophets and teachers will arise (Matthew 24:5), but be not deceived and separated from those who gave or give another other way of salvation, even the Word would go as far as to say these were accursed. We must in our friendship and love of the lost be sure to tell them the truth in love and not to forget where we once were, yet at the same time we do not be naïve and ignore the biblical admonitions that warn us against error and tell us what is coming in the last days Tribulation and the Antichrist heading all this up eventually when God removes the restraint. We must always keep the Word of God as our first and final authority and check out everything.
Lift up Jesus, the One Who shed His blood for guilty sinners, the One Who was buried and rose again after three days and Who will return to smash this world’s system to pieces when He returns at the second coming. I would just like to leave you with a recent post I shared on Facebook after reading so many things that are going on in the world today concerning another Jesus and please do not be deceived.
The Jesus of the Bible finished the word of redemption through His Blood alone. He died for sinners and was buried and rose again after three days. There is another jesus (which really is no other) that is being professed today and has been for thousands of years, it's a jesus that was just a supposed good teacher, a prophet, the brother of satan some claim! Even some claim he was a deceiver, a homosexual, an adulterer, some claim Jesus is not needed to be saved, that we can make it to God through our own so called goodness and deeds. Many are told that Mary is the way and she had a son called Jesus, except they say this jesus and her are co-redeemers! This is all nonsense. Jesus is perfect, sinless and spotless, He came to this earth as a man yet fully God at the same time, He was born of a virgin, Mary and He was conceived by the Holy Spirit by the power of God in the amazing miracle of the virgin birth. Mary is not anything but a vessel used by God, she is not meant to receive any adoration or worship and she certainly was not the co-redeemer with Jesus. Jesus was never married, but this isn't meaning people shouldn't be married just to say like many in religious asceticism are lying about. Jesus honored marriage between one man and one woman only and said to be not unequally yoked. Jesus was not just merely a good teacher and prophet, He is the Son of God, He is alive and seated at the right hand of God even as we are alive now, He will return and smash this whole world's system of religion and politics and He will rule and reign at the Second Coming after the seven year Tribulation period. Jesus said our good deeds are like filthy rags in His eyes. We cannot save ourselves and He is The Saviour of the world. He came to save and seek the lost and is the Only way to God the Father. He said to repent and believe, and that hell is where unbelievers will perish if they choose to believe in the lies and not accept the Love He desires to give freely. He said His grace is sufficient and that His mercy endures forever. He said for God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whomsoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. He said He is the Son of God and He is not like man that He should lie. He said many will come in His Name, but to be not deceived.
Thank you so much for all that excellent information, sister Tammy.
And, here is just a little more from another website to explain who attends these breakfasts: “People from all walks of life are invited. This list includes the President and First Lady, members of Congress, visiting heads of state, and a myriad of ambassadors representing scores of countries, many of them adherents of other religions or non-theist. (Non-theist would be atheist, so we have many attendees who believe in false gods or don’t believe in a god at all, but yet as we will hear in a few minutes when we examine some lines from Pres. Trump’s speech, he uses the word God indiscriminately, as if everyone there believes in the same God).
Also, the purpose of the National Prayer Breakfast is two-fold, but the main intention is quite simple: to come together in prayer and thanksgiving. Non-Christians attend the breakfast, but the event is designed to make sure that everyone is respectful whenever possible. The second purpose is to hear from the prominent speakers who offer words of encouragement and/or challenge the audience to live their lives in fuller service to Christ’s teachings (https://lawstreetmedia.com/issues/politics/national-prayer-breakfast-history-and-controversies/). (So, the main intention for the prayer breakfast is to come together in prayer and thanksgiving, but, then the next statement is “non-Christians attend the event.” So, all those involved with the Fellowship Foundation as the organizer, and Congress as the host, all think it is just fine for people of varied beliefs to join together in prayer, but this is not true, as you will thoroughly explain in just a minute here, sister Tammy. And, since non-Christians attend the event, everyone is supposed to be respectful, meaning Christians are supposed to be respectful concerning other religions, and/or atheism, and tolerate these beliefs. You know, not speaking specifically of the breakfast, but this is where the concept of religious liberty takes us. Supposedly, we have to allow for any ungodly, despicable speech against the one, true God; any satanic ritual or depiction; any beliefs that fly in the face of God’s Word, so that as true Christians we have the freedom to spread the gospel. Well, that is a load of rubbish and totally against God’s Word. For just one example, let’s read Deut. 12:3: “And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.” That is what God thinks about the toleration of false gods! And, then the article said the speakers challenge the audiences to live their lives in fuller service to Christ’s teachings. And, this fits in perfectly with all we just learned concerning “Jesus’ Model” and your comments, sister Tammy).
And, I would like to ask you to share what you have prepared about prayer in these situations at this time, please.
(Much of Jesus’ ministry was about confronting the false teaching of the religious leaders. (Matt. 16:11-12; 23:1-39).
Matthew 24:4-5 – Jesus warned us. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Jesus, as we know never told us to pray with false teachers, but rather reprove them and expose them. The fight for unity is actually a false premise and actually bringing dissension to those that are truly saved as they are getting misled by falsehood. The Bible repeatedly warned us not to be deceived.
Praying with other religions is not scriptural and the only time we pray with those is when leading one to the Lord by grace through Faith to confess Jesus is Who He says He is on receiving salvation. Now you may say to me that Jesus prayed for the sick and these were not saved, granted, this is so and this was done so that people would recognize He was the Saviour, yet many would get their fill and healing and still turn their backs on Jesus for what He came to them for. Jesus would not have only emphasized on the things of this life and walk away without these people knowing Who He was because the bible tells us He came to save and to seek the lost for eternal life is found in Him. He said what would it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose their very soul?! So we must use proper exegesis when dealing with scripture.
Praying WITH anyone that has not the faith in the Jesus of the Bible is not Scriptural unless they are being lead to Christ in repentance and faith. Allowing yourself as a true Believer to join in prayer with unbelievers would communicate your agreement with their faulty understanding of God. Praying WITH and praying FOR are two different things. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
The Bible teaching of separation forbids God's people from fellowshipping with error -
Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 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. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
There are many other verses of Scripture that I will add with the note on this discussion.
(Romans 16:17-18; II Corinthians 6:14-18; 11:1-4; Galatians 1:8-9; Ephesians 4:14-15; 5:11; Philippians 3:1-2; Colossians 2:8; II Thessalonians 3:6; I Timothy 1:3; 6:3-5; 6:20-21; II Timothy 2:16-21; 3:5,13; Titus 1:10-14; 3:9-11; II Peter 2:1-3; 3:17; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3; Revelation 2:2,6,14-16,20-23; 18:4).
Jesus taught His people to pray "OUR FATHER", so make sure that you are praying with true believers that have the same Father. The Bible never refers to the lost as His children.
This whole concept of joining with false religions brings disunity to the body and the thing that gets me is the ones being obedient to expose these errors are the ones being shunned in the name of dissension and described as unloving, judgmental Pharisees!
Elijah never joined with false prophets to pray, but rather prayed to the One True God. However, many are even twisting the scriptures and saying we come in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they do not have the same God. Not all who claim Abraham as their father do have him because they are not in the faith; they do not have the Holy Spirit. As we see in the last days the enemy is going to have power to call even fire down from heaven and mimic with lying signs and wonders to deceive, but be assured that his gospel will not be that of the Word of God, it will be this false unity we are talking about here, one that will lead to joining with other religions, and when he has finished using them he will put them all down so that he gets the attention and worship of the world. This is why we do not unite with Babylon, the world’s system, at all in any spiritual endeavors. We are simply to preach Jesus and what He has done and allow the Holy Spirit to work as we continue to share His Word.
Thank you so much for all those points, sister Tammy, and I hope the listeners will keep these all in mind as we continue this discussion.
(We know many people are excited about President Trump. One reason they are excited is because they were fed the line that Hillary Clinton basically was going to abolish Christianity and now, look, we have a President who staunchly defends it. But, first of all, what kind of Christianity does he defend, because it’s not biblical. And, then, what many people don’t seem to want to address is having a nation which offers religious freedom means people have the right to worship any false god they choose! So, this country tolerates and allows all kinds of false pagan practices and religions and then people have the nerve to call this a Christian nation! This makes no sense!
When we consider this prayer breakfast we should consider scriptures such as Ex. 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” I was listening to a program recently that mentioned this verse and the fact that the word gods, besides referring to deities, also refers to magistrates and rulers. So anyone who might want to excuse participation in this National Prayer Breakfast by saying he or she isn’t praying to another god, but rather to the God of the Bible, well they are still breaking this commandment because they are following the directive of a magistrate or ruler, in this case Donald Trump, who is establishing a false unity among those who participated in this Prayer Breakfast. And, in addition, he is giving credence to these false religions as if all those in attendance worship the same God. The One True God says for His people to remain separate, as you have explained so well, sister Tammy).
Well, let’s look at some of the president’s statements in his speech.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-66th-annual-national-prayer-breakfast/
Close to the beginning of the speech the president acknowledged Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. While Wikipedia lists Mark Burnett as an evangelical Christian, Roma Downey is a new age Catholic.
The president went on to say that America is a nation of believers, and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer. (Believers in what exactly, we would ask. And, prayer to whom?)
He said, “Each year, this event reminds us that faith is central to American life and to liberty. Our founders invoked our Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence. Our currency declares, “In God We Trust.” And we place our hands on our hearts as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance and proclaim we are “One Nation Under God.” Our rights are not given to us by man; our rights come from our Creator. No matter what, no Earthly force can take those rights away. (Again, faith in whom? There is much information available to show many of the Founding Fathers were deists, and several were freemasons. We don’t have time to discuss all that, but we will put an audio link from our website which will give more information. But, just to mention that a law passed in a Joint Resolution by the 84th Congress and approved by President Dwight Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, declared "In God We Trust" must appear on American currency. So, for the major part of U.S. history, America’s motto was strictly secular since it was E Pluribus Unum which means, from many, one. Also, under God was not added to the pledge until 1954. And, some may be thinking, well, better late than never. But, we still have the question, to which god are you referring, because it is not the God of the Bible. And, just how ironic that he would say our rights are not given to us by man and that no earthly force can take them away, when so many evangelical leaders were absolutely insistent throughout the election season that we had to vote for Trump or our rights would be taken away! But, we know that rights given to us by God cannot be taken away. Now, we may suffer for exercising those rights as many true believers have down through time, but that is a different matter).
Trump continues: “As the Bible tells us, for we are God’s handiwork, created in Jesus Christ to do good works. America’s heroes rise to this calling. In their selfless deeds, they reveal the beauty and goodness of the human soul.” (Well, the scripture he quoted is Eph. 2:10, but it must be quoted in context which means we must read verses eight and nine as well which say, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” So, verse 10 which the President quoted, applies to Christians only. Now, when the president says we are God’s handiwork, we don’t know if he is referring to everyone present, or just to Americans since he has promoted America as a nation of believers. But, whichever way, this is a statement which indicates a belief in universalism because everyone in America is not a Bible-believing Christian, much less in the rest of the world. And, this shouldn’t surprise us considering that Trump attended Norman Vincent Peale’s church for years. Norman Vincent Peale wrote “The Power of Positive Thinking” and mainly preached a message that said our thoughts can change our lives, our health, our destiny, and he was a universalist. I will include a link in the facebook notes if any of the listeners want to research some of Peale’s statements.(https://www.wayoflife.org/database/peale.html). And, there is no beauty and goodness in the human soul; Jer. 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”).
More from the speech: “All we have to do is open our eyes and look around us, and we can see God’s hand. In the courage of our fellow citizens, we see the power of God’s love at work in our souls, and the power of God’s will to answer all of our prayers.” (This statement discounts the fact that firemen, police officers, and other citizens who help out in times of crisis may be atheists, agnostics, or believers in false religions. God’s love is not at work in our souls unless we are saved. And, it is not God’s will to answer all of the prayers of all people. As John 9:31, Psalm 34:15, and Proverbs 15:29 so clearly show, God does not listen to the prayers of lost people, or false believers, unless they are calling out to Him in repentance. And, I know some people have the opinion about the prayer breakfast that at least the unbelievers are hearing about God. But, what god, is the question? Obviously not the God of the Bible, so what good does it do for people to hear about another false god?).
He continues: “When Americans are able to live by their convictions, to speak openly of their faith, and to teach their children what is right, our families thrive, our communities flourish, and our nation can achieve anything at all. So today, inspired by our fellow citizens, let us resolve to find the best within ourselves.” (Our nation can achieve anything at all and resolve to find the best within ourselves? These are obviously phrases inspired by “The Power of Positive Thinking”).
He said, “Let us pray for that extra measure of strength and that extra measure of devotion. And let us seek to build a more just and peaceful world, where every child can grow up without violence, worship without fear, and reach their God-given potential.” (Again, with the praying when one is speaking to a crowd where those of many faiths are present. And, as far as building a more just and peaceful world, this of course will not happen until Jesus Christ returns to rule and reign).
And, then, he said, “As long as we open our eyes to God’s grace and open our hearts to God’s love, then America will forever be the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a light unto all nations.” (America will forever be a light unto all nations? A nation that has murdered close to 60 million unborn babies in the last 45 years? And, that’s just one example of the evil in this nation. And, you know, Trump obviously has never read the Bible through, or either he just missed the parts about God’s wrath being poured out on the world during the Tribulation. America will not be exempt, in any way, shape, or form.
You know, even though many people believe Trump is a Christian, there is no evidence to indicate this is true, and his statements at the prayer breakfast support this even more so. And, while I recognize that statement might upset some people, the Bible does say we will know them by their fruits. We are not declaring a person’s eternal destination when we say these things, but our hearts are that someone would truly preach the gospel of salvation to the President. Listeners may remember during an appearance at the Family Leadership Summit in July of 2016, that Trump said he had never asked God for forgiveness but that he does take communion, which he described as "[w]hen I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed." And, as you have brought out many times, sister Tammy, that idea is another gospel. And, then also during the election season, syndicated columnist, Cal Thomas, interviewed Trump and asked him, "Who do you say Jesus is?" Trump said this, "Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence. Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind." Well, that’s a bit of a mess to say the least, and we know a true believer would clearly answer that Jesus Christ is his or her Savior).
Well, sister Tammy, I think this is a good stopping point for the first part of this discussion.
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Yes, continuing on with the second part of our discussion concerning the National Prayer Breakfast:
I want to begin the second part of this discussion by mentioning just a handful of people; some who attended, some who spoke, and some who responded to the prayer breakfast in blogs and so forth.
This is what Rabbi Marvin Hier had to say. Some may remember he delivered the first ever benediction given by an Orthodox rabbi at an American president's inauguration in Jan. of 2016: “The great blessing of life is every man’s ability to turn the imposed fate he is born with into destiny. Then he spoke about Simon Wiesenthal who tracked down more than 1100 Nazi war criminals. He said this idea of turning fate into destiny is the main message of Ex. 2 which speaks about Moses and the burning bush. God was teaching Moses, earth is your space, not your Creator’s. Its future, standing up to evil, feeding the hungry, caring for the infirm, planting the seeds for a better tomorrow for your children’s children, that is in your hands, not Mine, said the Creator. And, so it was that Moses, a humble man, with a speech impediment, accepted the task, and delivered God’s moral code, our capsule for survival which to this very day, 3500 years later, still remains the core value of all religions and humankind. May God allow each of us to reach our fullest potential. Let us convert our fate into destiny for the betterment of mankind. Amen.” (https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4713736/rabbi-marvin-hier-national-prayer-breakfast-2818) Tammy, would you please share your thoughts about his comments?
What this is focusing basically on is that Moses leading the slaves out as though this can be an example of people turning fate into destiny. God delivered Israel from Pharaoh in Egypt because He had mercy and compassion on His Chosen people, He fulfilled His Word using Moses as a vessel for His Glory. This is not a proper use of Scripture to say we can take this to make all this world a better place by joining with other religions. The reason God freed from Pharaoh the time He did was because of the sin of the Amorites and the mercy He has shown for them to repent did not occur and He fulfilled the prophecies He declared - ‘the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure’ (Genesis 15:16) because the other gods being worshipped for the 400 years. This is not again to be used as a means to change the world but to preach the Gospel so people repent and turn from sin as the Character of God is shown throughout! God does have a future fulfilment for the remnant of Israel and we must make it clear that God will have mercy on His chosen people that will turn to Him when they recognize this is the one whom they pierced when He returns at the second coming, before this time all nations will come against Israel and when they seem to be on the brink of annihilation, Jesus will come and save! We know that before this time we will see a one world religion and government looking to make peace and safety on this earth before the Lord returns and these are focused on the temporal, humanistic aspect of this unity effort they are pushing. We must be sure to heed the admonitions in the Word about remaining separate no matter what because in the end man cannot solve man’s dilemma of sin. Jesus is the answer and keep your eyes on Him. We must look at the focus of what people are bringing and what kind of affiliations these have in fellowship.”
Amen and amen, and thank you for that, sister Tammy.
Now, here is a paragraph from a Washington Post article: Bob Roberts, senior pastor at Northwood Church in Keller, Texas, and Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyaha, a Saudi Arabian Islamic Studies professor, attended the breakfast following an unusual gathering that was held during the previous three days: Four hundred faith leaders coming together to forge ties, work that has been common for many U.S. faith groups for decades but often has eluded one particular pair: Muslims and evangelicals. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/02/08/how-the-national-prayer-breakfast-sparked-an-unusual-meeting-between-muslims-and-evangelicals/?utm_term=.10af8da54a89) (I posted the link to this article the other day and I am including it in the Facebook notes to this discussion and I truly pray people will read it carefully. It seems that many are becoming dull of hearing concerning ecumenical activities and accords, but I pray people will recognize how these are all leading to the one world religion).
And, then, Senator James Lankford, Republican from Oklahoma said this at the breakfast: “This is a prayer breakfast but we would encourage you, wherever you are in your workplace, or in whatever legislative body or place where you serve around the world, to start your own time, that together you ask, seek, knock, and admit together we don’t know everything and we don’t run everything, but we have the opportunity to speak to who does. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/freethoughtnow/national-prayer-breakfast-eye-opening-unintended-ways/#XYxSZXuyIseHm1pE.99 (So, this senator is promoting even more ecumenical prayer worldwide).
In addition, Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame led a prayer that was drawn from the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi calling all to "Bring love where there is hatred. Bring pardon where there is offence. Bring truth where there is error. Bring hope where there is despair" (http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/229271/). (And, you guessed it, Mrs. Kagame is a Catholic. And, we are not surprised that she quoted St. Francis of Assisi since she is Catholic and since the Fellowship Foundation quoted him in the Jesus’ Model link as you discussed earlier, sister Tammy).
Here is just one paragraph from a blog by John McTernan at the “defend proclaim the faith” website: “This was a tremendous speech by the President as he actually made reference to the name of Jesus Christ! I can’t remember any other president doing this! There is no political gain for using the Lord’s name, so this is genuine. Many have said Trump is a new believer in the Lord, and this shows there is truth to it! (http://defendproclaimthefaith.org/blog/we-love-god-president-trump-addresses-national-prayer-breakfast/) (But, just as we have been asking what god is Trump talking about, we would ask what jesus is he talking about and so far we have recognized an ecumenical Jesus, a universalist Jesus, a social justice Jesus, but not the true Jesus! Then, the author says “there is no political gain for using the Lord’s Name,” but that is completely false because Trump won the presidency by garnering 81% of the “evangelical” vote. So, there definitely was political gain by using Jesus’ Name. Then, he makes reference to those who have said Trump is a new believer in the Lord. Well, I know of at least one person who said this and that was James Dobson. In June of 2016, Dobson said someone had led Trump to the Lord, but he was still a baby Christian. To this we would say, baby Christian or not, a believer would sell his casinos and so forth and completely repudiate his former lifestyle).
Next, I want to read some from a post from Dr. Billye Brim’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=national%20prayer%20breakfast)
Billye Brim worked for Kenneth Hagin’s ministry for 10 years and now heads Billye Brim Ministries and Prayer Mountain in the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri. In a corporate prayer meeting in June 2008, Billye Brim and others were impressed with these words: One thing will save America…an Awakening to God. One thing will avail for Israel and the nations, An Awakening to God. (But, of course, we know there will not be a great end times revival or awakening).
She states in the post that, “The Holy Spirit was manifestly present in the prayers and the prayerful attitudes of every speaker and those praying at the many, many tables. My heart thrilled to experience it. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was worshipped and appealed to in “real” prayer. (So, Dr. Brim thought the Holy Spirit was manifestly present in the prayers and the prayerful attitudes of every speaker? Somehow she thinks that the Holy Spirit was present in the prayers of, and in, people who don’t know the Lord? I’m just baffled).
One more person I wanted to mention who attended was Franklin Graham. This is from an interview he did on Fox News after the prayer breakfast. And, just to mention, I would hope that anyone getting their news from Fox would stop because you are being indoctrinated. Now, that could be an entire discussion in itself, but many newscasters there are Catholic and viewers are being conditioned to believe that Catholics are Christians, just to mention one problem. But, here is what FG had to say: “Past presidents scolded Christians. This president is defending Christians. At the prayer breakfast a few days ago he was tremendous that America is a nation of believers. And, we’re strengthened by the power of prayer he reminded everyone. And, he also reminded us that faith is central to the American life. And, it is. It’s central to our life as a nation. And, so I’m very thankful that Donald Trump takes this stand. Many people can condemn him that he is not an example of the Christian faith. Well, he may not be the greatest example, well, neither am I. Well, at least he’s defending the faith and he’s standing strong on that.
Fox News interviewer: Rev. Graham, why is it that so many in the media miss what Pres. Trump is trying to do when it comes to prayer and politics?
Graham: I don’t know why they miss it. I appreciate I think his transparency in this issue. He’s very open. He doesn’t care if he gets criticized. He’s just going to speak what he believes and I really believe that he believes in God. And, of course, as a believer, I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son. I believe that He died for your sins and for my sins; that God raised Him to life and that if we put our faith and trust in Him, God will forgive us our sins and He will heal our hearts. And, I believe the President believes this. And, he doesn’t always articulate it like a preacher would and I think people condemn him because they expect him to talk like a preacher. He’s not. He does have a very strong faith. (But, what Jesus Christ do you have, we must ask again? You cannot have a universalist Jesus or an ecumenical Jesus because they don’t exist! You know, a lot of people think highly of Franklin Graham because he speaks out against Islam and homosexuality. But, he is being used by the enemy as a tool to deceive because he is every bit as ecumenical as his father. He is a proponent of patriotic dominionism as demonstrated by his Decision America Tour held in 2016 during which he encouraged Christians to pursue political office. He very much fits the description found in 2 Cor. 11:13: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ”).
The last person we want to mention is Congressman Steve Scalisi. He was the highlighted speaker for the breakfast. Listeners may remember hearing about the shooting at a Congressional baseball game practice on June 14th of last year. Scalisi came very close to dying in that incident and in this speech he mentioned the power of prayer many times. But, we always want to consider the story behind the story. With this attack, as with every attack on police officers, school shootings, the Las Vegas mass killing, and so forth, we see people unifying under the banner of prayer. Now, should we pray for victims of these incidents? Of course, but we should not join up with people of other belief systems to do so.
Before Scalisi spoke a man named Cedric Richmond, who is the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Democrat gave some powerful remarks about that fateful day last summer according to an article at faithwire. com. He revealed details of his long and enduring friendship with Scalisi that goes far and beyond the political divide.
“Our faith unites us,” Richmond stated. “Our faith allows us to put purpose first. We put purpose over politics. We put purpose over profits. At the end of the day, we know that we are here on earth to fulfill a purpose – to make this world a better place” (http://www.faithwire.com/2018/02/08/i-started-praying-congressman-steve-scalise-describes-crying-out-to-god-after-being-shot/). (Well, as Scalisi will mention during his speech, he is a Catholic so when Richmond (who is a Baptist) states that our faith unites us, we see they have formed an ecumenical union. And, then he says their purpose is to make this world a better place. Well, that is an example of the false teaching of dominionism, so we see major red flags right away).
Scalise noted he hopes their friendship “serves as a lesson to all. Sure, we have differences, our differences are what make our country great, the fact that we're able to express our faiths that might be different, to fight for the things that we believe in. As Cedric said, I do believe we all want to get to the same place. We just sometimes have different roads that we take to get there, but we have that ability because of the way that our country was founded." (So, Scalisi says they’re able to express their faiths that might be different, but we are not talking about mere differences when we speak of Catholicism. We are, rather, talking about a religious system based on the traditions of men, full of paganism and idolatry, that is sending millions to hell with its false teachings! And, I pray if people don’t understand the seriousness of this false unity, that they will get into their Bibles like never before, and that they will conduct a thorough study of Catholicism as well.
And, when Scalisi says they all want to get to the same place, but they have different roads, I believe he is speaking politically rather than spiritually, but that terminology can easily plant the seed of universalism. We need to remember that Satan is using every method he can to condition people to accept the one world order; we see this in commercials, in the halftime programs of the Super bowl, in huge concerts given by supposed Christian musicians, and we could go on and on).
Continuing with Scalisi’s comments: "Who would have thought that one of the hottest tickets to get in Washington is a gathering of over 3,000 people of faith, to come together at 7:30 in the morning to share our belief in God. (So, apparently Scalisi believes that all present at that breakfast shared a belief in the same god even though we have clearly shown that attendees may be members of other faiths, or they may be atheists; basically stating that all believe in the same god, but just serve him differently which is universalism.
But, then he spoke about the God who most people in America would say they believe in because he spoke about this nation’s founding). He stated, “Believe me, this is a nation that was not founded in agnostic views. This was a nation founded with a deep belief in God. Our founding fathers talked about it when they were preparing to draft the Constitution. In fact, Thomas Jefferson… if you go to the Jefferson memorial right now, go read this inscription from Thomas Jefferson, 'God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?' You can't separate church from state...(It’s odd he should mention Thomas Jefferson since he created his own Bible by cutting out all the miracles, the virgin birth, anything supernatural. He believed Jesus was a good, moral teacher only, and not deity). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Thomas_Jefferson). (And, we do know our liberties are a gift from God and that’s why we don’t align with man and his false, political systems. And, then Scalisi slipped in the comment, you can’t separate church from state, which is a huge red flag considering the history of the Holy Roman Empire where the Catholic church reigned supreme. I don’t know how many people have heard the story of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV's trek to Canossa Castle, Italy, where Pope Gregory VII was staying in January of 1077. Henry IV was seeking absolution of his excommunication and he was forced to humiliate himself on his knees waiting for three days and three nights before the entrance gate of the castle, while a blizzard raged. That’s the kind of power the Catholic church held for centuries).
Scalisi continued: "I'm a Catholic, we have people of all faiths. This idea that you can just check your faith at the door--people would say, you know, when you're voting on issues, how do you separate your faith from the way you vote? Faith is part of who you are. It's part of who I am. (So, right there he admits that one’s religious beliefs do matter when voting on issues. Sadly, people don’t know the history of the atrocities committed by the Catholic church, they don’t know the work being carried out by Jesuits in every level of government and throughout society, actually, and they don’t know the implications of having Catholics in office down the road for true believers).
And, then, he said: “We pray every morning in the House and the Senate. When we open up our business, we say prayers.” (And, many patriotic dominionists would say this is just wonderful. They believe that since the Congressmen and women are praying surely God will bless their endeavors. Well, guess what? Every time Congress gathers and a prayer is said this is an ecumenical activity and this is why. According to an article by the Washington Times the breakdown concerning the religious affiliations of those in the House is as follows – 241 Protestants; 144 Catholics; 22 Jews; 7 Mormons; 2 Muslims; 2 Buddhists; 3 Hindu belief; 1 Unitarian; and 1 unaffiliated. Then, in the Senate there are 58 Protestants; 24 Catholics; 6 Mormons; 8 Jews; and 1 Buddhist. And, because prayer is a spiritual enterprise this, again, is an ecumenical activity).
And, one more paragraph from the speech: “God is good and God is great. God has blessed this great nation. Not only to bring together so many great leaders that are here today, but every single day. The fact that no matter where you are in the world, if you believe in freedom, if you believe in the ability to express your religious faith, that beacon above the Capitol, the Statue of Freedom, tells everyone around the world that the United States is the place that stands up for those religious freedoms that we all hold so dear because we are a nation that was founded under God. https://scalise.house.gov/press-release/scalise-delivers-keynote-address-national-prayer-breakfast (Well, I have already addressed the problems with these kind of statements in previous paragraphs, so I won’t repeat them, but I just pray people will look at the story behind the story as I said earlier and realize that the enemy of our souls is coming as an angel of light in so many ways. So much is happening so quickly in terms of ecumenical activities and we see the enemy working hard to lay the groundwork for the one world order. I pray for people to wake up.
But, before we close I want to address one more issue and neither sister Tammy nor myself take any pleasure in doing so, but we want to warn about the ecumenical road that Jimmy Swaggart ministries is going down. Now, we can give many examples, but we will give one that falls right in line with this discussion. And, it is the fact that the article I already mentioned from faith wire. com was posted on Frances and Friends facebook page. And, the problem is that rather than warn about the ecumenism involved; rather than saying Steve Scalisi is a Catholic so beware of what this man has to say; rather than warning about any of the problems we have brought out in these discussions about the National Prayer Breakfast, whoever wrote the post said the story is an amazing testimony to the power of prayer. Dear listener, just with this one example, we see much deception occurring. I pray people who follow this ministry would seriously pray and ask the Lord to lead them concerning this matter because they are being led down a very dangerous road.
Well, that is all I have, sister Tammy, and I know we have given a lot of information in these two discussions which some people will easily understand, but which may be completely new to others. I pray that anyone listening would seriously take all these matters to the Lord and would conduct their own studies as well).
READING TIME: 44 MINUTES
The following are the notes to the discussion found at these links for anyone for anyone who would like to study the subject more in depth: https://www.facebook.com/tammy.cheetham.77/videos/349289555570759/ Part 1 https://www.facebook.com/tammy.cheetham.77/videos/349289702237411/ Part 2
We wanted to discuss the National Prayer Breakfast that was held on Feb. 8 and we have so much information that we will have two discussions concerning this.
You know, a major problem with these prayer breakfasts is most people don’t stop to consider whether their attendance at such events pleases God. They don’t even stop and question whether God listens to prayers at such events because they just assume all prayer is a wonderful thing, but by the end of this discussion we pray people will understand that this prayer breakfast is just another tool Satan is using as he lays the foundation for the one world religion.
Here is some background information about the national prayer breakfasts from the intercessors for America website. “As national and international leaders gather in Washington, D.C. to pray together, cover them with your prayers for unity, protection, and the Gospel to be brought forth. On February 8, 2018, the annual National Prayer Breakfast will be held at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC for its 66th year. Every year on the first Thursday in February, worldwide leaders from over 100 countries gather with the U.S. President for the opportunity to form and fortify relationships with prayer as the cornerstone. (But, we would say that we cannot have unity with those from other religions, and as we will see when we discuss the president’s speech itself, another gospel was presented. And, again, we cannot have prayer with those of other faiths as a cornerstone for anything. So, we can easily see the concept of these prayer breakfasts is flawed from the start).
Continuing from the site: “The event is hosted by the U.S. Congress and organized by the Christian organization, The Fellowship Foundation, and comprises of luncheons, dinners, and meetings. Several guest speakers participate in the event, including a prestigious keynote speaker who is undisclosed until the breakfast. Previous speakers include Mother Theresa (1994), Bono (Baw-no) (2006), Tony Blair (2009), Dr. Ben Carson (2013), and Barry Black (2017). (You know, many people want to insist that the United States is a Christian nation, but here is one of many examples showing it is not. I mean, the Congress hosts an event, with prayer as its focus, and people from other religions are present? That shows we are a pluralistic nation, not a Christian one. And, these examples of speakers? Obviously, Mother Theresa was a Catholic; Baw-no may be considered a Christian by some, but I recently saw a picture of him wearing a headband with the Coexist logo; Tony Blair was an Anglican, but converted to Catholicism in 2007 which was two years before he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast; and, then, Dr. Ben Carson is SDA, as is Barry Black. Barry Black is the Senate chaplain).
And, just a little more from the site: “How did this begin? Norwegian immigrant and Methodist minister Abraham Vereide was dedicated to addressing the issue of poverty and wanted to gather and pray with local businessmen and politicians before heading to work. In 1942, when Vereide moved to Washington, he initiated these prayer groups with members of Congress, until it grew to include the President and other national and international leaders” (https://www.ifapray.org/blog/intercede-national-prayer-breakfast-thursday-feb-8/). (Well, straight away we see the roots of this event are tied in with the social gospel, rather than the true gospel. This Methodist minister wanted to address the issue of poverty rather than addressing the issue of lost souls. Jesus said the poor you will always have with you, as recorded in Matt. 26:11, which doesn’t mean we wouldn’t help poor people when we could, but where is the focus? On this life or the next? And, this Methodist minister didn’t seem to have any problem praying with those whose beliefs he did not know, and/or those who may not have been Christians. And, so this practice has carried on until present times with the same unbiblical foundation, except that we have the added problem of an emphasis on ecumenism in the “church” world today, and many will attend who have the label of Christian, but are not).
Before we go any farther we want to discuss the Fellowship Foundation itself and, sister Tammy, would you go ahead and present that information at this time?
(On the Home page of The Fellowship Foundation we find this information:
The Fellowship Foundation, also known as the International Foundation, is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage one another and people throughout the world to carry out the first and Great Commandment "to love God first" and "to love your neighbor as yourself". This is accomplished by seeking to adhere to the teachings and precepts of Jesus.
The people involved with the Foundation also develop friendships across all of the lines that typically divide people, including race, religion, politics, and socio-economic status. A fundamental pursuit of these friends is to serve people who are poor or disadvantaged. The Bible teaches this in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
The Bible talks about loving God and loving our neighbor, the Bible also speaks about a divide that will happen because of Him, that the truth will divide those that love Him and those that do not (Luke 12:51-53). The Jesus being portrayed from The Fellowship Foundation has a love that doesn’t rebuke sin, error and seeks to join altogether under a common purpose while professing this is the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus told people to repent and believe, that if they were not born again then they would not even see the Kingdom of God. Of course, again I will say, we are in this world, we live in a world where there will be numerous beliefs, but for the believer we do not join in fellowship under a banner of God claiming that Jesus just loves everyone, so we can all sit having a lovely time together where no actual message of what Jesus came do for the eternal soul is addressed! Jesus said, and I will repeat this as often as is necessary, that what would it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose their very soul? (Mark 8:36) He said you will be hated by all men for My Name’s sake! He said there will be two against three in the same house, even the closest of members in one’s family would be divided over truth. Now I am not saying we go around just being mean to anyone, but there is no way that the true believer can get away from the Bible prophecies which speak of a coming one world order which will include religion and politics and will be focused on “peace and safety”, making this world a better place before Jesus returns at the Second Coming and all will be a focus on what man can do to help man. The Bible tells us that there can be no fellowship with error for true believers and like I said before we cannot go out of this world, but to try coming together like this is not the faith we are to contend for and it certainly is encouraging people to accept this system instead of Jesus Christ as the solution for sinners and for all eternity.
The Bible tells us the friendship with the world is enmity with God, we are to come out from the joining together in this manner and to preach the Gospel. This is showing love to God and neighbor and the best way. I again am not stating don’t help the poor and disadvantaged, but preach them the Gospel and give the clear distinction of what faith you have and to expose the errors they are in and preaching, we are admonished to expose the unfruitful works of darkness and again have no fellowship with as is the case here.
The Catholic religion does not have the same Jesus as the Biblical Jesus and we see again in The Fellowship Foundation that these seem to believe that St Francis of Assisi was a Christian, as he was someone they quoted favorably on the “Jesus Model” header on their webpage.
I will read from their webpage this part and discuss some of the problems with this that we need understand.
Jesus' Model - What example did Jesus set for humanity? When He was asked, "What is the work of God?", He responded that the work was to believe in the one whom God had sent, that is to believe in Him. (John 6:29) Our common denominator is that we first work on ourselves to love God, to love our families, to love one another, and to seek to follow Jesus, as He is a great example in caring for others. When people asked Jesus various questions, He seldom answered directly and often responded "come and see" or "follow me". (John 1:38-39, 43) He was inviting them to fellowship with Him in small groups away from the crowd by working together, eating together, playing together, traveling together and resolving problems together. He was at the center of their devotion and their activities. When His disciples asked if they should oppose those who were not in their camp he told them, "No". (Mark 9:38-39) When the person of Jesus is examined apart from all the history and trappings of religion, people who would otherwise be alienated from religion in general and from each other in particular find common ground to build understanding, friendships and commitments. Jesus promised if He would be lifted up He would draw all people to himself. (John 12:32) Any group that focuses on Jesus instead of on their differences, problems or limitations will find the truth of his teaching that "nothing is impossible with God". (Matthew 19:26) That said, we prefer to follow the dictum of St. Francis of Assisi, who said, "Lift up Jesus, and when necessary use words."
First, work on ourselves to love God- I mean this is a false statement, besides all the other ecumenical errors, we repent and believe according to the Bible – Mark 1:15
John 3:16 also says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Follow Jesus – what Jesus do these portray? A social jesus that doesn’t tell people of sin and eternal life?
He was inviting them to fellowship with Him in small groups away from the crowd by working together, eating together, playing together, traveling together and resolving problems together –
Jesus ate with sinners with the intention of giving them the Gospel and was not hanging out with sinners as though He was okay with all they were getting involved in and never telling them about their souls. Jesus would fellowship with the brethren as they had the same Spirit to have the right fellowship, and as we know, fellowship does not mean we just never speak to unsaved people or those of other religions because how would they get to hear the truth, the problem is the yoking together and not any distinction and all a wrong focus on the purpose of them gathering.
Jesus did concern about the people’s physical needs but always made sure to give people the truth and deal with the Spiritual need most importantly. The Bible tells us bad company corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33) and not to sit in the seat of mockers (Psalm 1:1), we do need to use caution in the amount of time and relations we spend with unsaved people, if we are just hanging out with them having fun thinking they will come to Jesus, then more often than not the opposite happens and we are pulled down with them.
When His disciples asked if they should oppose those who were not in their camp he told them, "No". (Mark 9:38-39) – And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
This is not stating that this person casting out devils was not a believer in Christ, it is stating that this person was not in the group that was closely in the physical presence of Jesus like these disciples were, but he could have been one of the seventy, whom Christ had sent out, (Luke 10:1). No one really knows but please do not assume this was not a believer and use this as an excuse to go against the other verses what tell us to mark and avoid those bringing another doctrine. (Romans 16:17).
Jesus promised if He would be lifted up He would draw all people to himself. (John 12:32) – The Jesus again that needs to be lifted up is the one that came to save and to seek the lost, to forgive people of their sins and said do not get caught up in the affairs of this life! The Jesus that said in the last days many false prophets and teachers will arise (Matthew 24:5), but be not deceived and separated from those who gave or give another other way of salvation, even the Word would go as far as to say these were accursed. We must in our friendship and love of the lost be sure to tell them the truth in love and not to forget where we once were, yet at the same time we do not be naïve and ignore the biblical admonitions that warn us against error and tell us what is coming in the last days Tribulation and the Antichrist heading all this up eventually when God removes the restraint. We must always keep the Word of God as our first and final authority and check out everything.
Lift up Jesus, the One Who shed His blood for guilty sinners, the One Who was buried and rose again after three days and Who will return to smash this world’s system to pieces when He returns at the second coming. I would just like to leave you with a recent post I shared on Facebook after reading so many things that are going on in the world today concerning another Jesus and please do not be deceived.
The Jesus of the Bible finished the word of redemption through His Blood alone. He died for sinners and was buried and rose again after three days. There is another jesus (which really is no other) that is being professed today and has been for thousands of years, it's a jesus that was just a supposed good teacher, a prophet, the brother of satan some claim! Even some claim he was a deceiver, a homosexual, an adulterer, some claim Jesus is not needed to be saved, that we can make it to God through our own so called goodness and deeds. Many are told that Mary is the way and she had a son called Jesus, except they say this jesus and her are co-redeemers! This is all nonsense. Jesus is perfect, sinless and spotless, He came to this earth as a man yet fully God at the same time, He was born of a virgin, Mary and He was conceived by the Holy Spirit by the power of God in the amazing miracle of the virgin birth. Mary is not anything but a vessel used by God, she is not meant to receive any adoration or worship and she certainly was not the co-redeemer with Jesus. Jesus was never married, but this isn't meaning people shouldn't be married just to say like many in religious asceticism are lying about. Jesus honored marriage between one man and one woman only and said to be not unequally yoked. Jesus was not just merely a good teacher and prophet, He is the Son of God, He is alive and seated at the right hand of God even as we are alive now, He will return and smash this whole world's system of religion and politics and He will rule and reign at the Second Coming after the seven year Tribulation period. Jesus said our good deeds are like filthy rags in His eyes. We cannot save ourselves and He is The Saviour of the world. He came to save and seek the lost and is the Only way to God the Father. He said to repent and believe, and that hell is where unbelievers will perish if they choose to believe in the lies and not accept the Love He desires to give freely. He said His grace is sufficient and that His mercy endures forever. He said for God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whomsoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. He said He is the Son of God and He is not like man that He should lie. He said many will come in His Name, but to be not deceived.
Thank you so much for all that excellent information, sister Tammy.
And, here is just a little more from another website to explain who attends these breakfasts: “People from all walks of life are invited. This list includes the President and First Lady, members of Congress, visiting heads of state, and a myriad of ambassadors representing scores of countries, many of them adherents of other religions or non-theist. (Non-theist would be atheist, so we have many attendees who believe in false gods or don’t believe in a god at all, but yet as we will hear in a few minutes when we examine some lines from Pres. Trump’s speech, he uses the word God indiscriminately, as if everyone there believes in the same God).
Also, the purpose of the National Prayer Breakfast is two-fold, but the main intention is quite simple: to come together in prayer and thanksgiving. Non-Christians attend the breakfast, but the event is designed to make sure that everyone is respectful whenever possible. The second purpose is to hear from the prominent speakers who offer words of encouragement and/or challenge the audience to live their lives in fuller service to Christ’s teachings (https://lawstreetmedia.com/issues/politics/national-prayer-breakfast-history-and-controversies/). (So, the main intention for the prayer breakfast is to come together in prayer and thanksgiving, but, then the next statement is “non-Christians attend the event.” So, all those involved with the Fellowship Foundation as the organizer, and Congress as the host, all think it is just fine for people of varied beliefs to join together in prayer, but this is not true, as you will thoroughly explain in just a minute here, sister Tammy. And, since non-Christians attend the event, everyone is supposed to be respectful, meaning Christians are supposed to be respectful concerning other religions, and/or atheism, and tolerate these beliefs. You know, not speaking specifically of the breakfast, but this is where the concept of religious liberty takes us. Supposedly, we have to allow for any ungodly, despicable speech against the one, true God; any satanic ritual or depiction; any beliefs that fly in the face of God’s Word, so that as true Christians we have the freedom to spread the gospel. Well, that is a load of rubbish and totally against God’s Word. For just one example, let’s read Deut. 12:3: “And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.” That is what God thinks about the toleration of false gods! And, then the article said the speakers challenge the audiences to live their lives in fuller service to Christ’s teachings. And, this fits in perfectly with all we just learned concerning “Jesus’ Model” and your comments, sister Tammy).
And, I would like to ask you to share what you have prepared about prayer in these situations at this time, please.
(Much of Jesus’ ministry was about confronting the false teaching of the religious leaders. (Matt. 16:11-12; 23:1-39).
Matthew 24:4-5 – Jesus warned us. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Jesus, as we know never told us to pray with false teachers, but rather reprove them and expose them. The fight for unity is actually a false premise and actually bringing dissension to those that are truly saved as they are getting misled by falsehood. The Bible repeatedly warned us not to be deceived.
Praying with other religions is not scriptural and the only time we pray with those is when leading one to the Lord by grace through Faith to confess Jesus is Who He says He is on receiving salvation. Now you may say to me that Jesus prayed for the sick and these were not saved, granted, this is so and this was done so that people would recognize He was the Saviour, yet many would get their fill and healing and still turn their backs on Jesus for what He came to them for. Jesus would not have only emphasized on the things of this life and walk away without these people knowing Who He was because the bible tells us He came to save and to seek the lost for eternal life is found in Him. He said what would it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose their very soul?! So we must use proper exegesis when dealing with scripture.
Praying WITH anyone that has not the faith in the Jesus of the Bible is not Scriptural unless they are being lead to Christ in repentance and faith. Allowing yourself as a true Believer to join in prayer with unbelievers would communicate your agreement with their faulty understanding of God. Praying WITH and praying FOR are two different things. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
The Bible teaching of separation forbids God's people from fellowshipping with error -
Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 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. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
There are many other verses of Scripture that I will add with the note on this discussion.
(Romans 16:17-18; II Corinthians 6:14-18; 11:1-4; Galatians 1:8-9; Ephesians 4:14-15; 5:11; Philippians 3:1-2; Colossians 2:8; II Thessalonians 3:6; I Timothy 1:3; 6:3-5; 6:20-21; II Timothy 2:16-21; 3:5,13; Titus 1:10-14; 3:9-11; II Peter 2:1-3; 3:17; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3; Revelation 2:2,6,14-16,20-23; 18:4).
Jesus taught His people to pray "OUR FATHER", so make sure that you are praying with true believers that have the same Father. The Bible never refers to the lost as His children.
This whole concept of joining with false religions brings disunity to the body and the thing that gets me is the ones being obedient to expose these errors are the ones being shunned in the name of dissension and described as unloving, judgmental Pharisees!
Elijah never joined with false prophets to pray, but rather prayed to the One True God. However, many are even twisting the scriptures and saying we come in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they do not have the same God. Not all who claim Abraham as their father do have him because they are not in the faith; they do not have the Holy Spirit. As we see in the last days the enemy is going to have power to call even fire down from heaven and mimic with lying signs and wonders to deceive, but be assured that his gospel will not be that of the Word of God, it will be this false unity we are talking about here, one that will lead to joining with other religions, and when he has finished using them he will put them all down so that he gets the attention and worship of the world. This is why we do not unite with Babylon, the world’s system, at all in any spiritual endeavors. We are simply to preach Jesus and what He has done and allow the Holy Spirit to work as we continue to share His Word.
Thank you so much for all those points, sister Tammy, and I hope the listeners will keep these all in mind as we continue this discussion.
(We know many people are excited about President Trump. One reason they are excited is because they were fed the line that Hillary Clinton basically was going to abolish Christianity and now, look, we have a President who staunchly defends it. But, first of all, what kind of Christianity does he defend, because it’s not biblical. And, then, what many people don’t seem to want to address is having a nation which offers religious freedom means people have the right to worship any false god they choose! So, this country tolerates and allows all kinds of false pagan practices and religions and then people have the nerve to call this a Christian nation! This makes no sense!
When we consider this prayer breakfast we should consider scriptures such as Ex. 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” I was listening to a program recently that mentioned this verse and the fact that the word gods, besides referring to deities, also refers to magistrates and rulers. So anyone who might want to excuse participation in this National Prayer Breakfast by saying he or she isn’t praying to another god, but rather to the God of the Bible, well they are still breaking this commandment because they are following the directive of a magistrate or ruler, in this case Donald Trump, who is establishing a false unity among those who participated in this Prayer Breakfast. And, in addition, he is giving credence to these false religions as if all those in attendance worship the same God. The One True God says for His people to remain separate, as you have explained so well, sister Tammy).
Well, let’s look at some of the president’s statements in his speech.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-66th-annual-national-prayer-breakfast/
Close to the beginning of the speech the president acknowledged Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. While Wikipedia lists Mark Burnett as an evangelical Christian, Roma Downey is a new age Catholic.
The president went on to say that America is a nation of believers, and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer. (Believers in what exactly, we would ask. And, prayer to whom?)
He said, “Each year, this event reminds us that faith is central to American life and to liberty. Our founders invoked our Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence. Our currency declares, “In God We Trust.” And we place our hands on our hearts as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance and proclaim we are “One Nation Under God.” Our rights are not given to us by man; our rights come from our Creator. No matter what, no Earthly force can take those rights away. (Again, faith in whom? There is much information available to show many of the Founding Fathers were deists, and several were freemasons. We don’t have time to discuss all that, but we will put an audio link from our website which will give more information. But, just to mention that a law passed in a Joint Resolution by the 84th Congress and approved by President Dwight Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, declared "In God We Trust" must appear on American currency. So, for the major part of U.S. history, America’s motto was strictly secular since it was E Pluribus Unum which means, from many, one. Also, under God was not added to the pledge until 1954. And, some may be thinking, well, better late than never. But, we still have the question, to which god are you referring, because it is not the God of the Bible. And, just how ironic that he would say our rights are not given to us by man and that no earthly force can take them away, when so many evangelical leaders were absolutely insistent throughout the election season that we had to vote for Trump or our rights would be taken away! But, we know that rights given to us by God cannot be taken away. Now, we may suffer for exercising those rights as many true believers have down through time, but that is a different matter).
Trump continues: “As the Bible tells us, for we are God’s handiwork, created in Jesus Christ to do good works. America’s heroes rise to this calling. In their selfless deeds, they reveal the beauty and goodness of the human soul.” (Well, the scripture he quoted is Eph. 2:10, but it must be quoted in context which means we must read verses eight and nine as well which say, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” So, verse 10 which the President quoted, applies to Christians only. Now, when the president says we are God’s handiwork, we don’t know if he is referring to everyone present, or just to Americans since he has promoted America as a nation of believers. But, whichever way, this is a statement which indicates a belief in universalism because everyone in America is not a Bible-believing Christian, much less in the rest of the world. And, this shouldn’t surprise us considering that Trump attended Norman Vincent Peale’s church for years. Norman Vincent Peale wrote “The Power of Positive Thinking” and mainly preached a message that said our thoughts can change our lives, our health, our destiny, and he was a universalist. I will include a link in the facebook notes if any of the listeners want to research some of Peale’s statements.(https://www.wayoflife.org/database/peale.html). And, there is no beauty and goodness in the human soul; Jer. 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”).
More from the speech: “All we have to do is open our eyes and look around us, and we can see God’s hand. In the courage of our fellow citizens, we see the power of God’s love at work in our souls, and the power of God’s will to answer all of our prayers.” (This statement discounts the fact that firemen, police officers, and other citizens who help out in times of crisis may be atheists, agnostics, or believers in false religions. God’s love is not at work in our souls unless we are saved. And, it is not God’s will to answer all of the prayers of all people. As John 9:31, Psalm 34:15, and Proverbs 15:29 so clearly show, God does not listen to the prayers of lost people, or false believers, unless they are calling out to Him in repentance. And, I know some people have the opinion about the prayer breakfast that at least the unbelievers are hearing about God. But, what god, is the question? Obviously not the God of the Bible, so what good does it do for people to hear about another false god?).
He continues: “When Americans are able to live by their convictions, to speak openly of their faith, and to teach their children what is right, our families thrive, our communities flourish, and our nation can achieve anything at all. So today, inspired by our fellow citizens, let us resolve to find the best within ourselves.” (Our nation can achieve anything at all and resolve to find the best within ourselves? These are obviously phrases inspired by “The Power of Positive Thinking”).
He said, “Let us pray for that extra measure of strength and that extra measure of devotion. And let us seek to build a more just and peaceful world, where every child can grow up without violence, worship without fear, and reach their God-given potential.” (Again, with the praying when one is speaking to a crowd where those of many faiths are present. And, as far as building a more just and peaceful world, this of course will not happen until Jesus Christ returns to rule and reign).
And, then, he said, “As long as we open our eyes to God’s grace and open our hearts to God’s love, then America will forever be the land of the free, the home of the brave, and a light unto all nations.” (America will forever be a light unto all nations? A nation that has murdered close to 60 million unborn babies in the last 45 years? And, that’s just one example of the evil in this nation. And, you know, Trump obviously has never read the Bible through, or either he just missed the parts about God’s wrath being poured out on the world during the Tribulation. America will not be exempt, in any way, shape, or form.
You know, even though many people believe Trump is a Christian, there is no evidence to indicate this is true, and his statements at the prayer breakfast support this even more so. And, while I recognize that statement might upset some people, the Bible does say we will know them by their fruits. We are not declaring a person’s eternal destination when we say these things, but our hearts are that someone would truly preach the gospel of salvation to the President. Listeners may remember during an appearance at the Family Leadership Summit in July of 2016, that Trump said he had never asked God for forgiveness but that he does take communion, which he described as "[w]hen I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed." And, as you have brought out many times, sister Tammy, that idea is another gospel. And, then also during the election season, syndicated columnist, Cal Thomas, interviewed Trump and asked him, "Who do you say Jesus is?" Trump said this, "Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence. Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind." Well, that’s a bit of a mess to say the least, and we know a true believer would clearly answer that Jesus Christ is his or her Savior).
Well, sister Tammy, I think this is a good stopping point for the first part of this discussion.
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Yes, continuing on with the second part of our discussion concerning the National Prayer Breakfast:
I want to begin the second part of this discussion by mentioning just a handful of people; some who attended, some who spoke, and some who responded to the prayer breakfast in blogs and so forth.
This is what Rabbi Marvin Hier had to say. Some may remember he delivered the first ever benediction given by an Orthodox rabbi at an American president's inauguration in Jan. of 2016: “The great blessing of life is every man’s ability to turn the imposed fate he is born with into destiny. Then he spoke about Simon Wiesenthal who tracked down more than 1100 Nazi war criminals. He said this idea of turning fate into destiny is the main message of Ex. 2 which speaks about Moses and the burning bush. God was teaching Moses, earth is your space, not your Creator’s. Its future, standing up to evil, feeding the hungry, caring for the infirm, planting the seeds for a better tomorrow for your children’s children, that is in your hands, not Mine, said the Creator. And, so it was that Moses, a humble man, with a speech impediment, accepted the task, and delivered God’s moral code, our capsule for survival which to this very day, 3500 years later, still remains the core value of all religions and humankind. May God allow each of us to reach our fullest potential. Let us convert our fate into destiny for the betterment of mankind. Amen.” (https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4713736/rabbi-marvin-hier-national-prayer-breakfast-2818) Tammy, would you please share your thoughts about his comments?
What this is focusing basically on is that Moses leading the slaves out as though this can be an example of people turning fate into destiny. God delivered Israel from Pharaoh in Egypt because He had mercy and compassion on His Chosen people, He fulfilled His Word using Moses as a vessel for His Glory. This is not a proper use of Scripture to say we can take this to make all this world a better place by joining with other religions. The reason God freed from Pharaoh the time He did was because of the sin of the Amorites and the mercy He has shown for them to repent did not occur and He fulfilled the prophecies He declared - ‘the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure’ (Genesis 15:16) because the other gods being worshipped for the 400 years. This is not again to be used as a means to change the world but to preach the Gospel so people repent and turn from sin as the Character of God is shown throughout! God does have a future fulfilment for the remnant of Israel and we must make it clear that God will have mercy on His chosen people that will turn to Him when they recognize this is the one whom they pierced when He returns at the second coming, before this time all nations will come against Israel and when they seem to be on the brink of annihilation, Jesus will come and save! We know that before this time we will see a one world religion and government looking to make peace and safety on this earth before the Lord returns and these are focused on the temporal, humanistic aspect of this unity effort they are pushing. We must be sure to heed the admonitions in the Word about remaining separate no matter what because in the end man cannot solve man’s dilemma of sin. Jesus is the answer and keep your eyes on Him. We must look at the focus of what people are bringing and what kind of affiliations these have in fellowship.”
Amen and amen, and thank you for that, sister Tammy.
Now, here is a paragraph from a Washington Post article: Bob Roberts, senior pastor at Northwood Church in Keller, Texas, and Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyaha, a Saudi Arabian Islamic Studies professor, attended the breakfast following an unusual gathering that was held during the previous three days: Four hundred faith leaders coming together to forge ties, work that has been common for many U.S. faith groups for decades but often has eluded one particular pair: Muslims and evangelicals. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/02/08/how-the-national-prayer-breakfast-sparked-an-unusual-meeting-between-muslims-and-evangelicals/?utm_term=.10af8da54a89) (I posted the link to this article the other day and I am including it in the Facebook notes to this discussion and I truly pray people will read it carefully. It seems that many are becoming dull of hearing concerning ecumenical activities and accords, but I pray people will recognize how these are all leading to the one world religion).
And, then, Senator James Lankford, Republican from Oklahoma said this at the breakfast: “This is a prayer breakfast but we would encourage you, wherever you are in your workplace, or in whatever legislative body or place where you serve around the world, to start your own time, that together you ask, seek, knock, and admit together we don’t know everything and we don’t run everything, but we have the opportunity to speak to who does. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/freethoughtnow/national-prayer-breakfast-eye-opening-unintended-ways/#XYxSZXuyIseHm1pE.99 (So, this senator is promoting even more ecumenical prayer worldwide).
In addition, Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame led a prayer that was drawn from the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi calling all to "Bring love where there is hatred. Bring pardon where there is offence. Bring truth where there is error. Bring hope where there is despair" (http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/229271/). (And, you guessed it, Mrs. Kagame is a Catholic. And, we are not surprised that she quoted St. Francis of Assisi since she is Catholic and since the Fellowship Foundation quoted him in the Jesus’ Model link as you discussed earlier, sister Tammy).
Here is just one paragraph from a blog by John McTernan at the “defend proclaim the faith” website: “This was a tremendous speech by the President as he actually made reference to the name of Jesus Christ! I can’t remember any other president doing this! There is no political gain for using the Lord’s name, so this is genuine. Many have said Trump is a new believer in the Lord, and this shows there is truth to it! (http://defendproclaimthefaith.org/blog/we-love-god-president-trump-addresses-national-prayer-breakfast/) (But, just as we have been asking what god is Trump talking about, we would ask what jesus is he talking about and so far we have recognized an ecumenical Jesus, a universalist Jesus, a social justice Jesus, but not the true Jesus! Then, the author says “there is no political gain for using the Lord’s Name,” but that is completely false because Trump won the presidency by garnering 81% of the “evangelical” vote. So, there definitely was political gain by using Jesus’ Name. Then, he makes reference to those who have said Trump is a new believer in the Lord. Well, I know of at least one person who said this and that was James Dobson. In June of 2016, Dobson said someone had led Trump to the Lord, but he was still a baby Christian. To this we would say, baby Christian or not, a believer would sell his casinos and so forth and completely repudiate his former lifestyle).
Next, I want to read some from a post from Dr. Billye Brim’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=national%20prayer%20breakfast)
Billye Brim worked for Kenneth Hagin’s ministry for 10 years and now heads Billye Brim Ministries and Prayer Mountain in the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri. In a corporate prayer meeting in June 2008, Billye Brim and others were impressed with these words: One thing will save America…an Awakening to God. One thing will avail for Israel and the nations, An Awakening to God. (But, of course, we know there will not be a great end times revival or awakening).
She states in the post that, “The Holy Spirit was manifestly present in the prayers and the prayerful attitudes of every speaker and those praying at the many, many tables. My heart thrilled to experience it. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was worshipped and appealed to in “real” prayer. (So, Dr. Brim thought the Holy Spirit was manifestly present in the prayers and the prayerful attitudes of every speaker? Somehow she thinks that the Holy Spirit was present in the prayers of, and in, people who don’t know the Lord? I’m just baffled).
One more person I wanted to mention who attended was Franklin Graham. This is from an interview he did on Fox News after the prayer breakfast. And, just to mention, I would hope that anyone getting their news from Fox would stop because you are being indoctrinated. Now, that could be an entire discussion in itself, but many newscasters there are Catholic and viewers are being conditioned to believe that Catholics are Christians, just to mention one problem. But, here is what FG had to say: “Past presidents scolded Christians. This president is defending Christians. At the prayer breakfast a few days ago he was tremendous that America is a nation of believers. And, we’re strengthened by the power of prayer he reminded everyone. And, he also reminded us that faith is central to the American life. And, it is. It’s central to our life as a nation. And, so I’m very thankful that Donald Trump takes this stand. Many people can condemn him that he is not an example of the Christian faith. Well, he may not be the greatest example, well, neither am I. Well, at least he’s defending the faith and he’s standing strong on that.
Fox News interviewer: Rev. Graham, why is it that so many in the media miss what Pres. Trump is trying to do when it comes to prayer and politics?
Graham: I don’t know why they miss it. I appreciate I think his transparency in this issue. He’s very open. He doesn’t care if he gets criticized. He’s just going to speak what he believes and I really believe that he believes in God. And, of course, as a believer, I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s Son. I believe that He died for your sins and for my sins; that God raised Him to life and that if we put our faith and trust in Him, God will forgive us our sins and He will heal our hearts. And, I believe the President believes this. And, he doesn’t always articulate it like a preacher would and I think people condemn him because they expect him to talk like a preacher. He’s not. He does have a very strong faith. (But, what Jesus Christ do you have, we must ask again? You cannot have a universalist Jesus or an ecumenical Jesus because they don’t exist! You know, a lot of people think highly of Franklin Graham because he speaks out against Islam and homosexuality. But, he is being used by the enemy as a tool to deceive because he is every bit as ecumenical as his father. He is a proponent of patriotic dominionism as demonstrated by his Decision America Tour held in 2016 during which he encouraged Christians to pursue political office. He very much fits the description found in 2 Cor. 11:13: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ”).
The last person we want to mention is Congressman Steve Scalisi. He was the highlighted speaker for the breakfast. Listeners may remember hearing about the shooting at a Congressional baseball game practice on June 14th of last year. Scalisi came very close to dying in that incident and in this speech he mentioned the power of prayer many times. But, we always want to consider the story behind the story. With this attack, as with every attack on police officers, school shootings, the Las Vegas mass killing, and so forth, we see people unifying under the banner of prayer. Now, should we pray for victims of these incidents? Of course, but we should not join up with people of other belief systems to do so.
Before Scalisi spoke a man named Cedric Richmond, who is the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Democrat gave some powerful remarks about that fateful day last summer according to an article at faithwire. com. He revealed details of his long and enduring friendship with Scalisi that goes far and beyond the political divide.
“Our faith unites us,” Richmond stated. “Our faith allows us to put purpose first. We put purpose over politics. We put purpose over profits. At the end of the day, we know that we are here on earth to fulfill a purpose – to make this world a better place” (http://www.faithwire.com/2018/02/08/i-started-praying-congressman-steve-scalise-describes-crying-out-to-god-after-being-shot/). (Well, as Scalisi will mention during his speech, he is a Catholic so when Richmond (who is a Baptist) states that our faith unites us, we see they have formed an ecumenical union. And, then he says their purpose is to make this world a better place. Well, that is an example of the false teaching of dominionism, so we see major red flags right away).
Scalise noted he hopes their friendship “serves as a lesson to all. Sure, we have differences, our differences are what make our country great, the fact that we're able to express our faiths that might be different, to fight for the things that we believe in. As Cedric said, I do believe we all want to get to the same place. We just sometimes have different roads that we take to get there, but we have that ability because of the way that our country was founded." (So, Scalisi says they’re able to express their faiths that might be different, but we are not talking about mere differences when we speak of Catholicism. We are, rather, talking about a religious system based on the traditions of men, full of paganism and idolatry, that is sending millions to hell with its false teachings! And, I pray if people don’t understand the seriousness of this false unity, that they will get into their Bibles like never before, and that they will conduct a thorough study of Catholicism as well.
And, when Scalisi says they all want to get to the same place, but they have different roads, I believe he is speaking politically rather than spiritually, but that terminology can easily plant the seed of universalism. We need to remember that Satan is using every method he can to condition people to accept the one world order; we see this in commercials, in the halftime programs of the Super bowl, in huge concerts given by supposed Christian musicians, and we could go on and on).
Continuing with Scalisi’s comments: "Who would have thought that one of the hottest tickets to get in Washington is a gathering of over 3,000 people of faith, to come together at 7:30 in the morning to share our belief in God. (So, apparently Scalisi believes that all present at that breakfast shared a belief in the same god even though we have clearly shown that attendees may be members of other faiths, or they may be atheists; basically stating that all believe in the same god, but just serve him differently which is universalism.
But, then he spoke about the God who most people in America would say they believe in because he spoke about this nation’s founding). He stated, “Believe me, this is a nation that was not founded in agnostic views. This was a nation founded with a deep belief in God. Our founding fathers talked about it when they were preparing to draft the Constitution. In fact, Thomas Jefferson… if you go to the Jefferson memorial right now, go read this inscription from Thomas Jefferson, 'God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?' You can't separate church from state...(It’s odd he should mention Thomas Jefferson since he created his own Bible by cutting out all the miracles, the virgin birth, anything supernatural. He believed Jesus was a good, moral teacher only, and not deity). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Thomas_Jefferson). (And, we do know our liberties are a gift from God and that’s why we don’t align with man and his false, political systems. And, then Scalisi slipped in the comment, you can’t separate church from state, which is a huge red flag considering the history of the Holy Roman Empire where the Catholic church reigned supreme. I don’t know how many people have heard the story of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV's trek to Canossa Castle, Italy, where Pope Gregory VII was staying in January of 1077. Henry IV was seeking absolution of his excommunication and he was forced to humiliate himself on his knees waiting for three days and three nights before the entrance gate of the castle, while a blizzard raged. That’s the kind of power the Catholic church held for centuries).
Scalisi continued: "I'm a Catholic, we have people of all faiths. This idea that you can just check your faith at the door--people would say, you know, when you're voting on issues, how do you separate your faith from the way you vote? Faith is part of who you are. It's part of who I am. (So, right there he admits that one’s religious beliefs do matter when voting on issues. Sadly, people don’t know the history of the atrocities committed by the Catholic church, they don’t know the work being carried out by Jesuits in every level of government and throughout society, actually, and they don’t know the implications of having Catholics in office down the road for true believers).
And, then, he said: “We pray every morning in the House and the Senate. When we open up our business, we say prayers.” (And, many patriotic dominionists would say this is just wonderful. They believe that since the Congressmen and women are praying surely God will bless their endeavors. Well, guess what? Every time Congress gathers and a prayer is said this is an ecumenical activity and this is why. According to an article by the Washington Times the breakdown concerning the religious affiliations of those in the House is as follows – 241 Protestants; 144 Catholics; 22 Jews; 7 Mormons; 2 Muslims; 2 Buddhists; 3 Hindu belief; 1 Unitarian; and 1 unaffiliated. Then, in the Senate there are 58 Protestants; 24 Catholics; 6 Mormons; 8 Jews; and 1 Buddhist. And, because prayer is a spiritual enterprise this, again, is an ecumenical activity).
And, one more paragraph from the speech: “God is good and God is great. God has blessed this great nation. Not only to bring together so many great leaders that are here today, but every single day. The fact that no matter where you are in the world, if you believe in freedom, if you believe in the ability to express your religious faith, that beacon above the Capitol, the Statue of Freedom, tells everyone around the world that the United States is the place that stands up for those religious freedoms that we all hold so dear because we are a nation that was founded under God. https://scalise.house.gov/press-release/scalise-delivers-keynote-address-national-prayer-breakfast (Well, I have already addressed the problems with these kind of statements in previous paragraphs, so I won’t repeat them, but I just pray people will look at the story behind the story as I said earlier and realize that the enemy of our souls is coming as an angel of light in so many ways. So much is happening so quickly in terms of ecumenical activities and we see the enemy working hard to lay the groundwork for the one world order. I pray for people to wake up.
But, before we close I want to address one more issue and neither sister Tammy nor myself take any pleasure in doing so, but we want to warn about the ecumenical road that Jimmy Swaggart ministries is going down. Now, we can give many examples, but we will give one that falls right in line with this discussion. And, it is the fact that the article I already mentioned from faith wire. com was posted on Frances and Friends facebook page. And, the problem is that rather than warn about the ecumenism involved; rather than saying Steve Scalisi is a Catholic so beware of what this man has to say; rather than warning about any of the problems we have brought out in these discussions about the National Prayer Breakfast, whoever wrote the post said the story is an amazing testimony to the power of prayer. Dear listener, just with this one example, we see much deception occurring. I pray people who follow this ministry would seriously pray and ask the Lord to lead them concerning this matter because they are being led down a very dangerous road.
Well, that is all I have, sister Tammy, and I know we have given a lot of information in these two discussions which some people will easily understand, but which may be completely new to others. I pray that anyone listening would seriously take all these matters to the Lord and would conduct their own studies as well).