BIBLE THOUGHT:  Nope!  No way!  Know how!  Man will never please God without FAITH and FAITHFULNESS. It’s impossible.  I am amazed at believer’s that are not faithful to the house of God, but seem to know what is best for the house of God.  Proverbs 25:19 says  “Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.” We can talk all we want about Jesus, Church, and living right in the eyes of God. But, I am here to tell you, unless you “practice what you preach”  and being “doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22), you are not pleasing God.

DAILY THOUGHT: Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.

Friends, if you wanted to have a stranglehold on your fellow man so that they never felt liberated enough to venture outside what you told them, for fear that they would suffer the tortures of eternal damnation; what kind of tactics might you employ? How about making a list of restricted reading/ viewing material so that you could limit the amount of information that your believers could consult? Would you lie to them about the path to salvation? Would elevate your status to be infallible and give yourself abominable names like the Vicar of Christ (a title that belongs only to the Holy Spirit)? Would you teach that the Savior of mankind can only be accessed through you? That anyone that denies you, denies Christ?

Of course you wouldn’t. Because you love your fellow man and you know that everyone is a sinner and needs immediate access to the same Lord that saved your own soul, despite the fact that you are a wretch and hell bound by your very nature. As a believer in Christ you want your fellow man to know that through faith that he can receive the gift of grace from God, and that it is not enigmatic or complicated. You probably abhor the ideas stated above and wonder why anyone would want to control the eternal spiritual residence of their brethren. If that is so, then we have common ground, and we should take a moment to be thankful to the loving God that we serve, who offered a straightforward plan of salvation to all of mankind.

Despite that, however, there are millions upon millions of people on this earth that will try to convince you salvation is not achieved without the complicated, heretical doctrines of men that have been haphazardly strewn about by “religious leaders” over the centuries. Possibly the most despicable and responsible orator of “Christian” falsehoods over the last millennia has been the Roman Catholic Church. With her many idols and claims of infallibility, she has led many away from the path of salvation pointed out to us by Jesus Christ; and instead builds a path of gold, silver, purple and scarlet that leads to the distraction from simplicity into a complete submissiveness to Rome and her own plan for man’s eternity.

Romish claims to exclusivity in Jesus have been promulgated for centuries and accepted and adhered to worldwide for just as long, as the Catholic Church is required to believe without a doubt, whatever they are instructed to by the popery. Therefore, in our continuing effort to educate our brothers and sisters of false doctrine, the following is submitted. From the Roman Catholic Catechism:

The bishops – successors of the apostles

861 “In order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after their death, [the apostles] consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their immediate collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work they had begun, urging them to tend to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit had appointed them to shepherd the Church of God. They accordingly designated such men and then made the ruling that likewise on their death other proven men should take over their ministry.” ³⁷⁴

862 “Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his successors, is a permanent one, so also endures the office, which the apostles received, of shepherding the Church, a charge destined to be exercised without interruption by the sacred order of bishops.” ³⁷⁵ Hence the Church teaches that “the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ.

I’ll not spend too much time commenting on the audacity of these statements. While the apostles of Jesus and the bishopric of the Catholic Church fall on opposites sides of the spectrum of truth in Christ, with many opposing characteristics, I believe it is almost better to just let this one speak for itself. It should suffice to close with this:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me: and no man cometh to me but by a Catholic bishop….?

Anyone with even the most sophomoric knowledge of biblical text would know that the above is an incorrect adulteration of John 14:6. But, it sure seems that if the Catholic Church would have just written that in their catechism it would have saved a lot of the lawyeresque rambling and accomplished the same end.

Please friends, do not be duped. Love your neighbors, but don’t follow what is not given of God. Never reject Christ. But, steadfastly reject those that bring you false doctrine in the name of Christ, but which was not of Him. Remember that you and I can “…come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) Boldly, meaning that we do not need a bishop escorting us to that throne.

¹But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. (2 Peter 2:1)

And these are the Signs of the Times……

—-Anthony Dentler  (a 27 year veteran of the Roman Catholic Church…..now a Born Again Believer Saved by the Grace of God )

Quoted Roman Catholic Catechism is credited to and can be found at the following link: www.kofc.org

BIBLE THOUGHT:   “Be conformed to the image of His Son.”   There is a young boy of the age of 4 that my wife and I  (along with 2 other children) have had the privilege to raise these past several months. The change that has taken place in these children is nothing short of a miracle. The young boy has taken on the personality of me! Without any intention or coaxing, this little fellow has become a “little Wes”.  His attitude, his actions, and things that he says and does is a reflection of the one that is close to him.

We should be so close to our Savior Jesus Christ, that we take on the characteristics of Jesus Himself! We are  “to be”  conformed to the image of His Son!   Our attitudes, our actions, and things that we say and do should reflect the One who saved our ‘ole wretched souls…Jesus Christ.

DAILY THOUGHT: “Be not conformed to this world…” ( Romans 12:2)  What are you conformed to?  Our actions tell it all.

Psalm 27:1

Psalm 43:5

Deuteronomy 30:20

Philippians  1:21

Galatians 2:20

Acts 17:28

1 Corinthians 15:10

DAILY THOUGHT:  What is God to you?

BIBLE THOUGHT:  What is your life built upon?  Whatever it is, this is your foundation.  We know the lost build their lives/foundations on worldly things, but can a Believer do the same?  You better believe it.  Even though a person accepts Christ as their Saviour, the life they live can be anything but stable. Saved or not, leave Christ out of your life and you are on shaky ground.  It is Christ and His Word we have trusted and believed to save our souls. It is Christ and His Word that will keep us on solid ground.  What happens is that we don’t quit believing in Christ, but we do quit the Word of God. Our foundation is and must be built upon that pure and precious Word of God…..everyday. We build upon it everyday.

BIBLE THOUGHT:  ”let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.” —1 Corinthians 3:10

The Catholic Church has issued many such false doctrines (those that are not supported by scripture) over the years and we have every intention of warning our brothers and sisters of these falsehoods, so that they should not fall into the lies that are issued outside of God’s Word. We have no need to bring railing accusations, as God will rebuke the wrongs of this world. We will simply attempt to present their own doctrines and compare them to what we know of the infallible Scriptures.

This week’s piece of Catholic Catechism is accredited to, and can be found in entirety at: http://www.kofc.org/un/catechism/

“Outside the Church there is no salvation”

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? ³³⁵ Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. ³³⁶

847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too may achieve eternal salvation. ³³⁷

848 “Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men.” ³³⁸

The unabashed and sordid self-righteousness and piety that spews forth from the Vatican and nefariously creeps it’s culpable fingers into every corner of the earth is nothing short of deplorable. Make no mistake about it; God will not find favor in boastfulness, but instead in the humbleness that is in the spirit of those that fear him and believe. “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (Proverbs 29:23)

This is a blatant substitution for the true Word of God. No man can add to God’s plan for salvation, but unfortunately, they do and many people will fall victim to their deceits. Believe me, no membership in any denomination of Christian worship will send you to heaven. Despite the above statement by the Catholic Church there is not a one-way flight to heaven with a layover in Rome. If the pope is the pilot, then you can count me out. “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” (Eph 2:8-9). That faith will qualify you for inclusion in the Church in which Jesus is the cornerstone. I, for one, will not be the one at the judgment seat of Christ and tell him, “Thanks, but no thanks. I really didn’t think that you had all the answers, so I added some requirements.” Salvation is not achieved through the work that it takes to become a catholic, and certainly not from following doctrines that were never passed down through the Word of God. Any church that makes the claim that they are the link to heaven is guilty of heresy and blasphemy. The link between humanity and eternal life is Jesus Christ. Let’s pray that they will humble themselves before it is too late. “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)

Friends, the Catholic Church is trying to teach the world that if you have knowledge of their existence and reject them that are subject to eternal damnation. Well, I daresay that I have knowledge of the Catholic Church and feel blessed to have that knowledge, because it is biblically unacceptable and therefore easily rejected. I’ll not serve the pious whims and ramblings of imperfect men in hopes of finding salvation. “…as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Josh 24:15)

If any church tries to tell you that you must assimilate or be damned please find comfort in the Word of God. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) If it was good enough for the thief on the cross almost two thousand years ago, then pray tell, why would it not be good enough today? The fact of the matter is that God was so loving of the species that he created that he made it very simple to join him in everlasting life: belief in His Son, Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)

As a final thought please remember these verses in Paul’s second epistle to the church at Corinth:

“But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.“ (2 Corinthians 11:12-15)

And when worldly organizations try to convince you that you have no salvation outside of the complexities of their conundrum of a belief system, please, friends remember that Paul himself had these fears for the churches that he helped found almost two thousand years ago:

“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.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)                                            ——Anthony Dentler

and these are the Signs of the Times…….

They (Lifeway Bible Bookstores of Southern Baptist) are cautioning people before they read the book  to “READ WITH DISCERNMENT”  thinking this  removes them from the charge that they are promoting the book.  They are guilty of promoting because they are selling it.   The dollar is more important to the Southern Baptist than Truth.  By means of this disclaimer, Lifeway intends to make money from this popular book while avoiding responsibility for its heresies, but it won’t work. The Bible warns that if we do not disassociate strictly from those who preach false christs, we become partakers of their evil deeds (2 John 7-11). Lifeway is not only associating with William Young and his heresies by selling the book, but they are actually putting funds into his coffers to enable him to promote his heresies.

The Lifeway warning says the book “MAY contain” thoughts contrary to sound theology and urges readers to use discernment, but they don’t identify anything in particular and a large percentage of their customers doubtless lack the Bible knowledge and spiritual discernment required to discern truth from error. This is like serving up a dish contaminated with poison to children and warning them to eat with caution! The Lifeway bookstores are filled to the brim with psychology, self-help, self-esteem, romance novels, ecumenical and charismatic literature, undependable Bible versions, and all sorts of “Christian” rock music.

DAILY THOUGHT: “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” —2 John 7-11

“The Shack” promotes God as a woman who does not judge people.

They (Lifeway Bible Bookstores of Southern Baptist) are cautioning people before they read the book  to “READ WITH DISCERNMENT”  thinking this  removed them from the charge that they are Promoting the book.  They are guilty of promoting because they are selling it.   The dollar is more important to the Southern Baptist than Truth.  By means of this disclaimer, Lifeway intends to make money from this popular book while avoiding responsibility for its heresies, but it won’t work. The Bible warns that if we do not disassociate strictly from those who preach false christs, we become partakers of their evil deeds (2 John 7-11). Lifeway is not only associating with William Young and his heresies by selling the book, but they are actually putting funds into his coffers to enable him to promote his heresies. The Lifeway warning says the book “MAY contain” thoughts contrary to sound theology and urges readers to use discernment, but they don’t identify anything in particular and a large percentage of their customers doubtless lack the Bible knowledge and spiritual discernment required to discern truth from error. This is like serving up a dish contaminated with poison to children and warning them to eat with caution! The Lifeway bookstores are filled to the brim with psychology, self-help, self-esteem, romance novels, ecumenical and charismatic literature, undependable Bible versions, and all sorts of “Christian” rock music.

L.Ron Hubbard said, ” the quickest way to make a million bucks is to start a religion!”  This is exactly what William P.Young (author of the heretical book The Shack) is doing.

DAILY THOUGHT:  They who will not stand on the Word of God…will fall for anything!

• A proud look
• A lying tongue
• Hands that shed innocent blood
• An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations
• Feet that be swift in running to mischief
• A false witness that speaketh lies
• NUMBER SEVEN IS AN ABOMINATION:   ” he that soweth discord among brethren.

—Proverbs 6:16-19

DAILY THOUGHT: What more can be said…….

BIBLE  THOUGHT:  This “7 sealed book,” represents the secret purposes of God about to be revealed. The designs and methods of Divine Providence, toward the church and the world, are stated, fixed, and made a matter of record.  Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same and He does not change. Judgment is coming.  John, the man that God is showing these things to, wept because no man was found worthy to look into the book. Those who see most of God, are most desirous to see more; as a Believer there should be a hunger for the Word of God as we are advised in 1 Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” If John wept much because he could not look into the book of God’s decrees, what reason have many to shed floods of tears for their ignorance of the gospel of Christ! Or, a Believer because he has missed a day of fellowship through the neglect of reading of His Word!

DAILY THOUGHT:  John’s desire to see what God had written brought tears to his eyes. When was the last time  the precious Word of God brought tears to yours?