“Martyrs” or deluded victims of religious error?

This past weekend I was watching the local news and I saw the story far below about a large group of Rochester Catholics, led by the area’s bishop, that gathered at a parish in the city to honor the memory of a priest and a nun – George Weinmann, 77, and Lilian Marie McLaughlin, 26, (pictured) – who both perished fifty years ago in February 1967 when they went into the burning church building of a former parish in the area to “rescue” communion wafers.

Yes, you read that correctly.

They died trying to “save” communion wafers.

The Catholic church teaches its priests change bread wafers into the actual body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. Catholics line up at mass to consume the Jesus wafers, believing as they are taught that eating the Jesus wafer confers graces that will enable them to resist sin and merit Heaven. Priests store any leftover Jesus wafers in a locked box called a tabernacle where they are reverenced and worshiped as the physical Son of God. Weinmann and McLaughlin entered the burning church to “rescue” the Jesus wafers aka the Blessed Sacrament from the flames.

Sigh.

I’m saddened for Weinmann and McLaughlin, that they believed the bread wafers were actually Jesus and perished trying to “save” him. I’m saddened for all Roman Catholics, represented by the people who gathered together in this news story, who follow their church’s deadly misinterpretation of John 6 and the Last Supper passages in the Gospels and believe receiving Jesus means literally eating him and then try to obey the Ten Commandments to earn their salvation rather than accepting Jesus as Savior by faith and trusting in Him alone.

So sad.

Service Honors Rochester Fatal Church Fire Victims
http://www.twcnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2017/02/26/service-honors-fatal-church-fire-victims.html

Catholic calisthenics: Sit, stand, kneel, sit, stand, kneel…

The Roman Catholic mass is a mystery to most evangelicals. If an evangelical attends a Catholic church for a wedding or a funeral and a mass is performed they’ll witness many things they’re not used to.

During the mass, the Catholic priest goes through an elaborate liturgical ritual in which he prays specific prayers in a specific order and the attending Catholics respond in rote exactly as they’ve been directed. You can visit Catholics churches in twenty different countries and the ritual is exactly the same. The ultimate focus of the mass is when the priest allegedly changes bread wafers and wine into the literal body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. The priest then offers up the immolated Jesus host to God the Father as a sacrifice for the sins of the congregation and anyone else who is named. The attendees then line up to receive the Jesus wafer from the priest and consume it, believing as they’ve been taught that the Jesus wafer will impart graces enabling them to avoid sin so they can merit Heaven. If the priest did not follow the prescribed liturgical formula exactly, the mass could be completely invalid.

One thing that often makes a big impression on evangelical visitors to a Catholic mass is how often the attendees are required to change their posture; from sitting to standing, to kneeling, etc. It’s all part of the elaborate ritual and is not to be deviated from. During the course of the mass the Catholic is required to assume the following postures in this order:

• Stand
• Sit
• Stand
• Sit
• Stand
• Sit
• Stand
• Kneel
• Stand
• Kneel or Stand
• Stand
• Sit or Kneel
• Stand*

Up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down. The slavish ritualism is striking to behold.

I was an altar boy from 5th grade through 8th grade. After having to memorize all the spoken responses in Latin, the church changed the rote prayers of the mass to English. Argh! Once I became comfortable with the routine again, one of my favorite things to do as an altar boy was to observe the mass attendees. A large percentage looked like mass was the last place they wanted to be. Catholics are told by their church that if they miss weekly mass on Sunday it’s a “mortal” sin and they’re going to hell and many of those who still bother to attend mass (only 22% of American Catholics attended obligatory weekly mass in 2016) are there strictly because of this threat.

But there were some people at mass who were very enthusiastic about the ritual and those tended to be older women. They were the first to stand, the first to kneel, and the first to sit down. They were also the first and the loudest in saying the responses. Their demeanor seemed to express to the rest of the congregation, “You poor, unpious saps need to refer to the missalette, but look at me! I’m such an outstanding religious person that I’ve got this whole thing down pat and I know it even better than father (the priest).” If a priest deviates from the ritual by even one iota, one of these self-appointed holier-than-thous will be on the phone to the bishop’s office the following day. Yes, God said even the things we do that we think are good deeds are like filthy rags in his sight.

God’s Word says there’s no need for priests and sacrifices any longer. Jesus did away with the Old Testament sacrificial system and precluded the ersatz Catholic sacrifice of the mass when He cried, “It is finished” on the cross. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and High Priest. He is the only Mediator between God and men. Accept Christ and ask the Lord to lead you to an evangelical church in your area that teaches God’s Word without compromise.

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” – Hebrews 10:11-14

*Postures and Gestures at Mass

“I might have been a commie when I was young and stupid but see, now I’m all about the red, white, and blue.”

Man on a Tightrope
Directed by Elia Kazan and featuring Fredric March, Terry Moore, Gloria Grahame, and Cameron Mitchell
Twentieth Century-Fox, 1953, 105 minutes

Following his friendly testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1952, director Elia Kazan’s reputation was under assault from both sides of the political spectrum. The New York and Hollywood Left were outraged that he had named names of former fellow communists while the studio heads were concerned about the moviegoing public’s reaction to the news that their leading director was an ex-Red. Fox mogul, Darryl F. Zanuck, convinced Kazan to direct “Man on a Tightrope,” to demonstrate his loyalty to his country. The film was one of several anti-communist propaganda pieces released during the height of the Red Scare. Kazan reluctantly agreed to direct the film but he made it clear in later interviews that it was definitely not one of his fondest memories.

Plot

Mild-mannered Karel Cernik (Frederic March) and his broken-down circus struggle to survive in post-war, communist-controlled Czechoslovakia. The state security apparatchiks constantly harass Cernik and the circus looking for “irregularities” and affronts to “the people.” Cernik finally has enough and secretly plots the circus’s escape to West Germany, but the situation is complicated by his wife Zama’s (Gloria Grahame) disdain for him and her very public infidelity and by his daughter Tereza’s (Terry Moore) attraction to a mysterious new roustabout, Joe Videk (Cameron Mitchell), a possible state spy. When Cernik senses the communists are close to discovering his plan, he sets things in motion and Zama suddenly has a newfound respect for her now-decisive husband. As the circus travels toward the border crossing, it’s revealed that Krofta (Richard Boone), Cernik’s foreman, is actually the state’s spy. Krofta is killed in a struggle but manages to mortally wound Cernik. The circus successfully crosses the border into West Germany with the dead messiah-figure, Cernik, in tow.

Commentary

This film is based upon the true story of the Circus Brumbach, which escaped from East Germany to Bavaria in 1950. Kazan filmed on location in West Germany and actually used Circus Brumbach for the project. Frederic March was on the blacklist because of his Far Left sympathies but Kazan used his influence to get him casted. Kazan balanced the playbill by casting the politically Far Right actor, Adolphe Menjou, as one of the lead security apparatchiks. The pairing of 55-year-old March with 30-year-old, film noir femme fatale, Grahame is a stretch. When Zama goads Cirnik into slapping her and then smiles approvingly because her husband has finally displayed some manly backbone, today’s viewer will be quite shocked. Sorry, that won’t fly today. Alex D’Arcy as the cowardly lion tamer and the object of Zama’s unrequited affections is a hoot. The romantic sub-plot involving Cam Mitchell and the constantly overwrought Terry Moore should have been left on the cutting room floor.

I like this movie a little bit more with each viewing. There’s no mistaking that it’s a Red Scare propaganda piece meant to placate audiences regarding Kazan’s loyalty but the film has some very good performances (March, Grahame, Menjou, Pat Henning, Paul Hartman) and it’s entertaining to watch how this rag tag (and I mean RAG TAG) circus manages the impossible of escaping to freedom right under the noses of the Czech communist security apparatus. Propaganda piece or not, Eastern Europeans endured unbelievably great hardship under Soviet communist rule from 1945-1989. Liberals still hate Kazan (d. 2003) as the ultimate rat fink but how were American communists and their sympathetic fellow travelers able to square their theoretical ideology with the deadly realities of Joseph Stalin and the Iron Curtain?

Trivia alert: Don’t blink or you’ll miss a cameo from Fess Parker (Davy Crockett) as one of the U.S. border guards at the end of the film.

“Man on a Tightrope” is one of three of Kazan’s nineteen films not available as a single DVD. However, it is available as one of the fifteen films in The Elia Kazan Collection box set. No commentary or any other bonus features were included.

Additional thoughts from a believer’s perspective

I thank the Lord I live in a (still) free country although individual freedoms have been gradually eroding here for quite some time. But spiritual freedom in Jesus Christ trumps political freedom every time. The world could never comprehend it but the apostle Paul, bound in Rome prior to his execution, was the spiritually free man while the Roman emperor (Nero?) was the actual prisoner – to sin. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for leading believers out of darkness to eternal life!

Weekend Roundup – News & Views – 2/25/17

It’s been six weeks since I last posted a summary of the week’s news. I found that I was spending far too much time at it and I no longer enjoyed doing it. But I miss the process so I’m going to try it again, this time limiting myself to only ten news reports maximum per week.

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• The Shack — The Missing Art of Evangelical Discernment

This article from Al Mohler regarding the novel, “The Shack,” is from 2010 but it’s still very pertinent with the upcoming release of the film version on March 3rd. These days many evangelical Christians are so doctrinally-challenged that the heresies of “The Shack” will fly right over their heads.

• Pope Francis suggests ‘better to be atheist than hypocritical Catholic’

We’re all hypocrites and sinners, which is why Jesus had to come into this world to die for sins. Francis has previously stated that atheists who are “good” can also merit Heaven, but doesn’t God’s Word say no one is good and that only those who accept Christ as Savior are given the gift of eternal life?

• Look to Christ to overcome ‘tragic’ Reformation legacy, Pope says

Rather than being a tragedy, the Reformation was a glorious movement led by the Holy Spirit to return the church to the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through Jesus Christ alone. The Reformation continues.

• School district to remove Ten Commandments monument

Secular institutions supported by tax payers of all religious groups as well as atheists have no right to propagate the beliefs of one religious group, even if that group is in the majority. Christian parents would not want the beliefs of Muslims or Hindus or atheists or Satanists monumentalized at their childrens’ schools. Let’s spread our faith in Christ in godly ways rather than through bygone-era coercion.

• Christian Jailed in Mexico for Refusing to Contribute to Catholic Festivals, Deny Evangelical Faith

The persecution of evangelicals in Southern Mexico continues. This is just a holdover from several decades ago when the Roman Catholic church in league with civil authorities routinely oppressed evangelicals throughout Latin America.

• Carnival puts Rio de Janeiro’s pentecostal mayor on the spot

Interesting predicament. Here we have faith versus non-Christian traditions and big bucks. Christians need to think long and hard before tangling themselves up in the world.

• Americans Warm Up to Every Religious Group Except Evangelicals

I assumed Americans’ disposition toward evangelicals soured a bit because of the support by many for Donald Trump but this survey found that “fewer people personally know an evangelical anymore.” We’re not motivated to be liked by the world but we are motivated to befriend people and share Christ with them.

• Steven Spielberg movie to examine notorious Catholic kidnapping of Jewish boy

I’m looking forward to this film. The Catholic church, which claims to be led by the Holy Spirit through an infallible pope, has a deplorable history in regards to persecution of Jews. Forced baptisms, quarantines (confinement to ghettos), pogroms, and expulsions were often the rule.

• A model of how Catholics can evangelize by takin’ it to the streets

What exactly is the “good news” that Catholic evangelizers offer? To attend RCIA for a year, get baptized, receive the sacraments regularly, and hope you die with no “mortal” sin on your soul at the moment of death so you can merit Heaven? That’s not “good news,” folks, that’s VERY bad news. No one can merit salvation. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and ask the Lord to lead you to an evangelical church in your area that preaches God’s Word without compromise.

Come back to Jesus

Remember & Return: Rekindling Your Love for the Savior
By John MacArthur
Baker Books, 2016, 208 pages

“Remember (so-and-so)? They used to be at church every time the doors were opened. Whatever happened to them?”

That’s a conversation that occurs much too often among believers. Many people accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and are initially on fire for the Lord but then something happens to cause their love for the Lord to grow cold and they drop away. Or maybe they still go through the motions but they’ve lost their zeal for the Lord. There are also some who professed Christ but never genuinely accepted Him as Savior.

In this 31-day devotional, pastor John MacArthur encourages those who have turned away from the Lord to return to Him. MacArthur provides relevant Biblical reminders of who Jesus is and all that He has done (and is doing) for the believer. Whatever caused us to turn away from Jesus can’t be blamed on Him. He never let us down.

I especially enjoyed the last three chapters which take their cue from Philippians 3:12-14 where Paul admonishes fellow Christians to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Every Sunday morning, as my wife and I drive to church ten miles away, we pass a large number of joggers and a couple of gyms with full parking lots. Those people devote themselves to hours and hours of physical training every week and a careful eating regimen in the hopes of becoming temporarily fitter and healthier and perhaps even winning a competition. But that’s all dust. We believers have a far, far greater calling! How can we be complacent? See also 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

Friends, I walked away from the Lord for twenty-three years for no good reason. If you no longer have a passion for the Savior, pray to Him to restore you. Ask Him to rekindle your love for Him. If you know someone whose love for the Lord has gone cold, this short devotional could be a blessing to them.

“And rend your heart and not your garments ” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.” – Joel 2:13

I love you, Jesus!!!

Many of you know I walked away from the Lord for a very long period. But when I returned to Him three years ago, OH! to be welcomed back in His arms again! And it wasn’t so much that I returned to Him, but He had kept calling me back to Him all that time.

Shortly after my return, someone placed a white sign on the Tryon Park overpass over Interstate 590 North, which read, “I Love You, Jesus!” So every day,  half-way on my drive into work, I got to read “I Love You, Jesus.” What a way to start the day! Yes, I do love you, Jesus! For paying the penalty for my sins. For knocking on the door of my soul. For saving me and being my Shepherd, my Rock, and my High Tower. The sign came down several times and was quickly replaced but then there was an interval of about two years with no sign. Argh! But when I drove to work yesterday, there it was again; “I Love You, Jesus.” Praise the Lord! Tens of thousands of people pass under that sign everyday and I know it will convict both unbelievers and backslidden saints. Praise Jesus!

My parents weren’t mushy by any stretch. They kept their emotions pretty close to the vest. Growing up, the only time I came across “We love you” was on birthday cards. It was easy to tell my wife I loved her because romance will generally do that to you but growing up the way I did, it was hard for me to say it to anyone else, even to our two sons. I still struggle. I even struggle to say “I love you” to the Lord when I pray aloud to Him with my wife. Yes, I love you Jesus! I love You!!! Let’s hang a sign from every overpass! Lord bless the sign hangers, the literal ones and those who show their love for the Lord with their lives!

“We love him, because he first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19 

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” – Deuteronomy 6:5

♫ You say you want a revolution… ♫

Viva Zapata!
Directed by Elia Kazan and featuring Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, and Anthony Quinn
Twentieth Century-Fox, 1952, 113 minutes

By 1952, director Elia Kazan had achieved extraordinary artistic and commercial success on Broadway and in Hollywood. But the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was also interested in Kazan because he had been a member of the American Communist Party from 1934-36 and his films advocated social progressivism. Perhaps in deference to increasing pressure from HUAC, Kazan made “Viva Zapata,” a salute to the revolutionary proletariat but also an indictment of Stalinism. “Viva Zapata” was released in February 1952 and Kazan was called to appear before HUAC in April when he testified as a friendly witness, naming names of fellow communists and earning the undying wrath of liberals. Kazan’s following two films, “Man On A Tightrope” (1953) and “On The Waterfront” (1954), also attacked Stalinism and attempted to justify his HUAC friendly testimony.

Plot

A group of Mexican peasants petitions right-wing dictator, President Diaz, for land reform. The patronizing Diaz notes the insolence of one particular individual, Emilio Zapata (Marlon Brando). Zapata grows in stature as a leader of the people with his spirited brother, Eufemio (Anthony Quinn), at his side. His peasant army joins in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to overthrow Diaz and install liberal reformer Madero as president. As Zapata’s fame and influence rises he marries Josefa (Jean Peters), the daughter of a rich merchant. Impatient with the well-meaning but befuddled Madero, Zapata continues the fight for agrarian reform. Madero is felled in a coup led by General Huerta. Zapata and the the other rebel generals eventually drive Huerta into exile. Zapata is appointed president of Mexico but quickly resigns in frustration. Mexico’s new rulers, former leftist revolutionaries, hunt down Zapata, eventually killing him in an ambush. Journalist, Fernando Aguirre (Joseph Wiseman), a shadowy figure and former adviser to Zapata and the other revolutionary leaders, has a hand in Zapata’s death.

Commentary

Unfortunately, acclaimed novelist John Steinbeck’s script does not flow easily. You’ll need a scorecard to keep track of all of the politicos and los comandantes. First, the bad guy is Diaz. Then it’s Madero. Then Huerta. Then Carranza. Ay, caramba! We know from later interviews with Kazan that the Aguirre character was meant to represent unscrupulous Stalinism but the average viewer would never make that connection on their own. Zapata and his revolutionary compadres are romanticized a great deal by Kazan. The last reel is as hokey as it gets with peasants denying Zapata’s death and his white horse galloping off into the sunset. One hundred years after the Revolution, Mexico continues to struggle politically and economically. Brando, Peters, and Quinn turn in fine performances with Quinn winning a supporting Oscar. As a trivia note, Jean Peters was the second wife of the eccentric Howard Hughes. The “Viva Zapata” Blu-ray was released in 2013 but offers no commentary or special features other than the trailer.

Additional thoughts from a believer’s perspective

Perhaps the most truthful moment of this film is when Zapata has ascended to the presidency and a group of peasants present him with their grievances. Zapata angrily takes down the name of the most insolent peasant just as as Diaz had taken down his name several years before. The oppressed become the oppressors. The hearts of men are desperately wicked.

People look to their nation, government, and society for their identity and fulfillment. While God’s Word says Christians are to be law-abiding citizens so as to be a good testimony to our unbelieving neighbors, our primary citizenship is in Heaven. We are ambassadors and emissaries for our Heavenly King as we journey through this world. Real freedom and fulfillment come through rebirth and identity in Jesus Christ, not through nations, governments, political parties, or revolution.

Fundamentalism and a family: I couldn’t put it down

The Sword of the Lord: The Roots of Fundamentalism in an American Family
By Andrew Himes
Chiara Press, 2011, 344 pages

Several weeks ago I posted a message regarding “The Sword of the Lord,” a Christian fundamentalist newspaper I subscribed to for a couple of years back in the early 1980s. See here.

Evangelist John R. Rice (pictured) was the original editor and publisher of the Sword. Although he had been dead for a few years by the time I started my subscription, I came to admire the man through his archived sermons and writings. Yes, the Sword often featured some hard-nosed fundamentalist diatribes that rubbed me the wrong way and eventually led to my letting my subscription run out, but I still have a soft spot for Rice and for much of what he preached.

I saw this book on Amazon when it was first published and was intrigued but not enough to buy it. After posting the message on the SOTL, I ordered a used copy from an Amazon 3rd-party seller and I’m so glad I did. I enjoyed this book immensely.

The author, Andrew Himes, is a grandson of John R. Rice and he gives the reader an intimate account of the rise of fundamentalism in the early 20th-century and the rise of Rice’s ministry. Few evangelical Christians know about John R. Rice these days but the man was perhaps the most influential leader of Christian fundamentalism from the 1940s through the 1970s. The movement had its struggles especially in regards to segregation and race relations (Rice’s minister father was a member of the KKK), the emergence of Billy Graham and evangelical ecumenism, and increasing involvement with politics which peaked with Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority. Himes gives fantastic insight into the life of his grandfather and the movement he shepherded.

Relatively few churches still preach the hard-core brand of fundamentalism championed by J. Frank Norris, William Bell Riley, John R. Rice, Bob Jones, Sr., and Jack Hyles, where the Gospel was mixed with a certain degree of arrogance and judgmentalism.  Unfortunately, many of today’s evangelical churches lean toward the opposite extreme with Joel Osteen-Rick Warren-TBN loosey gooseyism. Andrew Himes says he accepted Christ as a child, became a Marxist atheist, but now encourages everyone to discover the enigmatic “God within ourselves.” But don’t let that stop you. Hime’s New Age/Universalism soliloquy only lasts a paragraph or two. Although this book is harshly critical of several aspects of fundamentalism and evangelicalism, Himes combines criticism with love and a good degree of respect.

For anyone interested in the history of Christian fundamentalism with a very personal twist, this book is the ticket. I couldn’t put it down.

p.s. Be forewarned. “The Sword of the Lord” traces the Rice family history from 1778 onward, sometimes with exacting detail. Those who dislike history will find this book more than a little daunting. Himes has definitely done his research.

Worlds are colliding! aka What happens when an irresistible force (corned beef on St. Patty’s Day) meets an immovable object (lenten abstinence)?

The evangelical church is now so enmeshed in our “affirming” contemporary society that it’s considered unkind and very bad form to point out the incorrect teachings of non-Biblical religious systems. But sometimes it’s impossible to remain silent as in the case below.

When I was a young Catholic boy way back in the 1960s, we could not eat meat on Fridays throughout the year. We were taught that if you ate meat on Fridays you were committing a “mortal” sin and were doomed to eternal hell fire unless you confessed the sin to a priest. But compulsory abstinence from meat wasn’t exactly a hardship for our family or other practicing Catholic families. On Fridays my Dad usually made a short trip to Karl’s Fish Market on Culver Road for three or four pounds of breaded and fried white fish along with some french fries and cole slaw. Sometimes he even bought some fried scallops! Boy, rather than being a sacrifice, those fried fish dinners were a real treat!

But in February 1966, pope Paul VI shook things up when he announced that he was leaving it up to the bishops of each nation to decide on whether the compulsory abstinence from meat should be year round. The U.S. bishops subsequently decided to restrict the meat abstinence to only lenten Fridays. But what about the Catholics who ate meat on non-lenten Fridays prior to 1966 and went to hell? Did they get a “Get Out of Hell Free” card? Curious minds want to know.

That takes us to 2017. This year Lent begins on Wednesday, March 1st and ends Thursday, April 13th. Meat is also not allowed on Good Friday, April 14th so that’s seven Fridays in a row without hot dogs, burgers, steak, or pork chops. I’m still not sure about the status of Chicken in a Biskit crackers.

Wait. What’s that you say? St. Patrick’s Day falls on Friday, March 17th this year? You mean to tell me there will be no corned beef on Irish-American tables for St. Patty’s Day 2017? Uh-oh. Now what? Worlds are colliding my friends. WORLDS ARE COLLIDING! People have left the church for much, much less.

But wait! Can it be? Yes, the U.S. bishops are coming to the rescue!  I see from the article below that the bishops are issuing formal dispensations, which will allow Catholics to eat their fill of corned beef or bangers on St. Patrick’s Day without contracting mortal sin.

Now wait a minute. Slow it down. The Irish seem to be getting preferential treatment in this case, don’t you think? What I want to know is if a Catholic is NOT Irish, can they take a rain check on the March 17th dispensation and use it on one of the other five lenten Fridays? That seems fair. Do we need a canon lawyer to figure this out? Somebody call the Vatican!

Thank you, Lord, for freeing me from these kinds of man-made religious chains. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and ask the Lord to lead you to an evangelical church in your area that preaches the Gospel without compromise.

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Bishop grants dispensation from abstinence on St. Patrick’s Day
http://www.madisoncatholicherald.org/news/around-diocese/6846-abstinence-dispensation.html

New book differentiates the real Jesus from religious fakes

There was a time when the major Christian publishers – Zondervan, Baker, Moody, Thomas Nelson – differentiated between the Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone and Rome’s false gospel of sacramental grace and merit. These days those publishing houses are as apt to print something from a Catholic author as they are something from an evangelical.

I’m grateful that Harvest House Publishers continues to provide resources that distinguish between the Gospel of grace and religious chains. I was checking out Harvest House’s web site this morning and I see they have a new book in the works, “Stolen Jesus: An Unconventional Search for the Real Savior” by Jami Amerine, which is due out on October 1st. Here’s the publishers’ blurb:

Let’s be honest. The journey to discovering Jesus—Real Jesus—can be complicated, messy, and a little crazy. Just ask Jami Amerine. Excommunicated from the Mormon church as a child, she’s spent the rest of her life trying to reconcile Fifth-Grade Jesus, Catholic Jesus, and Americanized Jesus (just to name a few).

But when she met Real Jesus, everything changed.

You can meet Him too—right here, just as you are. With designer coffee in hand or with your jar of pickles for lunch. (Jami will tell you that story in chapter 1.)

If you’ve ever felt confused by the conflicting representations of Jesus you’ve encountered in the world, you’re invited to join Jami’s quest to release all the wrong ideas and get to know Jesus as He really is—bewildering grace and all.

(Oh, and Stolen Jesus? He sits on Jami’s mantel. You’ll get to meet Him too!)

Yes, various religious groups have their own peculiar version of Jesus; the Mormons (spirit brother of Satan, Jesus), the Jehovah’s Witnesses (Michael the archangel, Jesus), Catholics (wafer Jesus), Muslims (prophet Jesus), modernist Protestants (social gospel Jesus), liberation theologists (proletarian Jesus), etc. But Biblical Christianity preaches Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, Who took on human flesh and paid the penalty for sins on the cross at Calvary. He rose from the grave, conquering sin and death, and offers eternal life and fellowship with God to all who repent of their sins and receive Him as Savior by faith.

I’m looking forward to Harvest House’s new book. Here’s more information on Harvest House’s materials on Catholicism and on “Stolen Jesus: An Unconventional Search for the Real Savior” by Jami Amerine. We’ll be watching for it!

• https://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/search/eyJyZXN1bHRfcGFnZSI6InNlYXJjaFwvaW5kZXgiLCJrZXl3b3JkcyI6ImNhdGhvbGljIn0
• https://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/books/stolen-jesus-9780736970631