As we celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ this month we reflect on the victory He won for us over the power of sin, death and Satan. While the victory has been won, the battle for the souls of men continues to be a fierce battle between the truth of God's Word and the lies of the devil. Let us remember that it is the duty of every blood-bought Christian to be actively involved in the Lord's army, to expose all forms of deception and to warn victims who are embracing a fatally flawed gospel. Let us have a greater compassion for people committed to a religion without any real understanding of what the religion is about. For example, to be "committed to Roman Catholicism" simply because a person was born into a Catholic family is foolish. To be loyal to a religion without investigating its core doctrines and history, is complacent ignorance masquerading as faithfulness. People who follow religious leaders and rituals blindly are either too proud, too lazy or too intellectually dishonest to admit their lives are empty and too paralyzed by deceit to investigate the truth. They do not know why they believe what they do. They have blindly inherited someone else's tradition. Their religion determines their identity and they will defend it even if they are not actively involved in it. Their faith is so "personal" that they dare not speak of it to others? 

Each Catholic has a right to embrace God's truth or reject it. But don't expect us or others like us to cheer as you stomp proudly toward hell's gates. We are angry at the real enemy, the master deceiver, the devious and convincing liar, who uses religion to blind people from the truth. We are grieved at the destiny you have chosen. We are fighting and praying for your very souls. It is a battle we are determined to continue to fight -- not for ourselves, but for you. If our zeal upsets you, forgive us. But don't expect us to give up the fight simply because it becomes uncomfortable for you. If our roles were reversed, I hope you would do as much for us.

What's up with all the Catholic hype about Mary? Each year millions of her faithful followers take pilgrimages to places where apparitions have appeared. Visionaries often identify her as the Queen of Heaven and Co-Redemptrix. Are these apparitions and eucharistic miracles some of the lying signs and wonders that Satan is using to deceive the world? This week on Prophecy Update Radio, host Bill Salus and Mike Gendron explore the dangerous deception behind the Eucharist, and the Marian apparitions. This fascinating two-part interview addresses the fatal errors of Catholicism along with the possibility that the Vatican could be the coming one-world religion of Revelation 17. Are Catholics Christians? Is the Pope the coming false prophet of Revelation 13? Bill and Mike respond to these questions and many more. Hear part one of the interview here. Part two is here.

 

Pope Benedict's representative in Israel, Fouad Twai, declared that "Israel's existence has nothing to do with the Bible." He then compared Christians' condition in today's Jerusalem with Jesus' Passion: "We Christians never forget that even our Lord himself suffered and was mocked in Jerusalem." Twal's position on Israel and the Bible has been embraced at the highest levels in the Catholic Church. The Vatican synod in 2010 declared that Israel cannot use the Biblical concept of a promised land or a chosen people. "We Christians cannot speak about the Promised Land for the Jewish people", the synod's document said. "There is no longer a chosen people. The concept of the promised land cannot be used as a base for the justification of the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of Palestinians." In a period when the Vatican's anguish at the catastrophic decline of Arab Christianity should be palpable, the Catholic Church chooses to demonize Israel and to increase its collaboration with the PLO. Read more.

The primary reason we have so many false converts in Christianity is because of the unbiblical methods of evangelism that are being used by many well-meaning evangelists. We must warn false converts that they are victims of faulty methods and compromised gospels that crept into the church 100 years ago through the false teaching of Charles Finney. It is ironic that Finney has become a poster boy for so many twenty-first century evangelicals. Not only were his methods not found in Scripture, he rejected the doctrine of justification by faith. He denied that the righteousness of Christ is the sole ground of our justification. Instead he taught that sinners must reform their own hearts in order to be acceptable to God. An excellent video message on DVD that warns the church of these faulty methods of evangelism is available here. 

Over 3400 pastors, elders, and laymen from all over the world gathered at the 2012 Shepherd's Conference to hear expository preaching by John MacArthur, Steven Lawson, Phil Johnson, Voddie Baucham, Tom Pennington and others. I have been attending this conference for 15 years and have always been thoroughly blessed by the Christ-exalting teaching and God-honoring worship, along with the fellowship and encouragement of like minded believers. For those of you who were unable to link to the live streaming of the conference, the messages are now available here.

We received many letters and emails on last month's article and news report on popular Bible conference speaker Walid Shoebat, a convert to Christianity who claims to be an ex-Islamic PLO terrorist. Some noted that Walid was very evasive about a number of critical issues on the CNN report. I have known Walid for a number of years and joined him as a speaker at several conferences. He contacted me and I replied by email on March 12 saying, "I am concerned about the questions that were raised about your background that did not agree with your testimony. Would you like to call me to discuss the interview?" As of this date, he has not responded.

By clicking this link you will see a map of the United States. Roll the cursor over each state to see the dominant religions of each state by percentage of population.  

When God saved me, I didn't do any seeking, in fact, I was very rude to the evangelist that knocked on my door. I said "I am a Catholic; don't talk to me about religion." I was very protective of my Catholic faith but two weeks later, in my own home, whilst listening to a message on the Gospel, God suddenly revealed Himself to me and convicted me of all my sins. I suddenly realized that I was heading for Hell. I knew then how real God was. One minute I was in the dark, the next minute I was in the light. I had crossed over from death to life. It was like I had been lifted out of the pit of hell. It was so amazing and so real. It was then that I suddenly came to a realization that the priest had never forgiven me of my sins. I was so upset that I had been misled for 39 years. I used to believe everything that the Priest said. So I don't take any offense when anyone says to me "don't talk to me about religion." because with God all things are possible. God saves whom He wants to save. It is not up to us, so we should not write anybody off. I am always thanking God revealing the truth to me through His Word, the Bible which I had never read as a Catholic. 

Celia Taylor, Dorset, England