Category: News

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 7/24/21

Posted on by Tom

The headline pictured above is HUGE and disconcerting news for conservative and traditionalist Catholics. Pope Francis’ decision to restrict and eventually eliminate the Latin mass deserves a separate post all by itself. The Second Vatican Council (1961-1965) was an effort by the Roman Catholic church to modernize itself. One of the most significant changes wrought by the council was replacing the incomprehensible Latin mass liturgy with the Novus Ordo (“New Order”) mass in the vernacular. Conservative and traditionalist Catholics strongly resented Vatican II’s modernizations and defiantly clung to the Latin mass as a symbol of pre-conciliar militant Catholicism. Conservative pope Benedict XVI officially accommodated the Latin mass in a 2007 encyclical. However, on Friday, July 16th, pope Francis reversed Benedict’s accommodation and declared that priests could only say the “extraordinary form” Latin mass with the permission of their bishop, with the goal of eventually eliminating the Latin rite altogether. Conservative and traditionalist Catholics were already resentful of Francis because of his progressive reforms, but this “attack” upon their beloved Latin mass has elicited oaths of outrage and defiance. On his part, Francis recognized the Latin rite was a bastion for his conservative and traditionalist opponents that was being used to rally and indoctrinate others.

The mass is a boring, liturgical ceremony when said in English. Imagine compounding the boredom by sitting through an incomprehensible Latin liturgy for one hour. But traditionalist Catholics are thrilled by the “grandeur” and “mystery” of the Latin rite. Whether said in Latin or the vernacular, the mass is an anti-Biblical ceremony purporting to transform Jesus Christ into bread wafers and wine and to re-sacrifice him for the sins of the congregants. The genuine Gospel is nowhere in sight at either Latin or Novus Ordo masses. I will be reporting on the conservative/traditionalist reaction to Francis’ ruling in the weeks ahead. We are living in unusual times when the most “pious,” doctrinaire Catholics view their pope as a scoundrel at best and a heretic at worst.

Interesting phenomenon. Liberal mainline “Protestantism” is seeing a slight resurgence 1) as a reaction to evangelicalism’s almost-wholesale endorsement of Donald Trump and 2) because of its wholesale embracement of the increasingly acceptable LGBT agenda. The genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone is not preached in mainline “Protestant” churches.

As a former viewer of “19 Kids and Counting,” I’m still interested in the Duggar clan. Anna Duggar has had to deal with incredibly difficult circumstances in her life while I whine about piddly stuff.

I’ve been reporting on the persecution of evangelicals by Catholics in Southern Mexico since I started this blog six years ago. When will it stop?

Catholic sociologist, Richard Sipe, estimated that 30-40 percent of Catholic priests are homosexual. Catholic seminaries were/are both magnets and incubators of deviancy.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 7/17/21

Posted on by Tom

Retired Catholic archbishop of Newark, N.J., John Myers, caught some heat over his 8000 sq. ft. estate featuring indoor and outdoor pools (photo above). The extravagant opulence that was the standard for Catholic prelates in the past is increasingly less tolerated by the rank and file. See my post here about former-Catholic bishop, James Kearney, who resided on “millionaires’ row” here in Rochester.

As the writer of this article points out, rhe U.S. Catholic Bishops’ efforts to deny the Jesus wafer to abortion-supporting politicians like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi will definitely alienate many casual Catholics.

This article exemplifies how conservative Catholic media commentators advise their like-minded audience to ignore pope Francis and his progressive reforms. This calls into question the RCC’s claim that the pope is infallible when it comes to his pontifications on all serious matters affecting “faith and morals,” even though Catholic theologians can only agree on the infallibility of three papal declarations throughout history – the immaculate conception (1854), papal infallibility (1870), and the assumption of Mary (1950). What is the worth of having an allegedly infallible guide when the prerogative of infallibility is never used? It’s all bogus.

I’d like to read this new book, “The Truth at the Heart of the Lie: How the Catholic Church Lost Its Soul — A Memoir of Faith,” from a liberal Catholic. Progressive Catholics think Francis isn’t making changes fast enough while conservatives rue the day he was elected pope!

Francis is softening up the RCC to eventually ordain women as deacons, but it will be decades before Rome accedes to ordaining women as priests. By the way, priestly sacrifice was done way with by Jesus Christ and His once-for-all-time sacrifice on the cross.

The NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) is taking Christian Nationalism to the next level.

I’m not a fan of statues of Jesus Christ. I believe they violate the second commandment. Notorious anti-Semite, Gerald L. K. Smith, erected this monstrosity in 1966.

English soccer fans get downright nasty with their anti-Catholicism (and racism). These folks are “Protestant” in name only.

The number of Rochester homicides in 2021 that’s cited in this article isn’t accurate. There have actually been 40 homicides here in Rochester since January 1st. Rochester is one of the poorest cities per capita in the country due to the decline and exodus of several manufacturing companies (e.g. Kodak, Xerox, etc.). 2020 U.S. Census data ranks Rochester as the third poorest city in the country behind only Detroit and Cleveland.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 7/10/21

Posted on by Tom

Some Catholics were outraged when reality-TV idol, Kim Kardashian, recently visited Vatican City as a publicity-stunt. Ms. Kardashian was outfitted in a revealing, form-fitting dress as she toured St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museum. Pious Catholics regard the Vatican as a “holy site” and were offended by Kardashian’s deliberately-provocative outfit. All niceties aside, the Vatican and its false gospel are from the pit of hell. The “scandal” of Kardashian’s outfit pales in comparison to the scandals and evils of Roman Catholicism. By the way, the Vatican is full of paintings and sculptures of nude or barely-covered women and men, so why all the controversy over Kardashian’s dress?

Roman Catholicism teaches that people of all religions and even atheists can merit Heaven if they sincerely “follow the light they have been given.” That’s not the Christianity that the apostles and many of the early Christians gave up their lives for.

I’ve often said that the most dangerous characters in the movie, “The Exorcist,” were the exorcist priests with their false gospel.

This new documentary interests me because I’m currently reading a book about the radicalization of nuns in the U.S. in the 1960s and 70s and their subsequent steep numerical decline. There were 200,000 nuns in the U.S. in 1965. There’s now under 50,000 and the great majority are elderly.

With COVID-19 restrictions being lifted across the country, the U.S. Catholic bishops have rescinded their dispensations and now require the Catholics within their dioceses to attend mass on Sundays under threat of soul-damning mortal sin. According to the RCC’s own survey data, only 22% of Catholics attended mass every Sunday as required prior to the pandemic.

Canada’s thirteen-million Catholics are questioning whether they should continue as members of a religious institution that was directly responsible for so much suffering. Scandals come and go, however it’s important to note that no Catholic ever heard the genuine Gospel from their church’s pulpit.

It was amazing (and revealing) to see how the media elevated Francis’ medical procedure to a major news story last weekend. The entire world is enthralled with Francis, except for conservative Catholics and discerning Gospel Christians.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 7/3/21

Posted on by Tom

The wafer wars continue. Many liberal/progressive lay Catholics will be alienated by the U.S. bishops’ decision to formulate policy that would recommend withholding the Jesus wafer and other sacraments from pro-abortion Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden. A recent Pew survey found that 67 percent of U.S. Catholics oppose denying Biden communion.

The Vatican officially came down against same-sex marriage in a March 15th statement, yet pope Francis continues to support Jesuit James Martin and his crusade for full-acceptance of practicing homosexuals within the RCC. Bergoglio has made a science of studied ambiguity.

Most of today’s “Lutherans” have no knowledge of the genuine Gospel preached by Martin Luther.

Atheists and agnostics misguidedly cite Roman Catholicism’s scandals and historical atrocities in condemning genuine Christianity.

Who would voluntarily give one penny to confirmed shyster, Bakker?

Speaking of the Bakkers, their nascent and lurid brand of prosperity gospelism, a blight upon the name of Christianity, will be documented in this upcoming film.

The unsettling takeaway from this article is that 45% of White “evangelicals” view smiling pope Francis, purveyor of Rome’s false gospel, favorably.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 6/27/21

Posted on by Tom

The “wafer wars” continue to heat up. Two weeks after the U.S. Catholic bishops voted to formulate guidelines denying the Jesus wafer to high-profile Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden who support pro-abortion legislation, reaction is off the charts. Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington D.C. has already announced he won’t deny Biden the Jesus wafer. The newly-appointed bishop of Biden’s home-diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, William Koenig, has not said whether he will deny Biden the Jesus wafer, although it’s certain that his promotion by pope Francis was contingent on being on the progressive side of the “wafer wars.” The U.S. bishops’ decision is galvanizing advocates on both sides of the debate and will further widen the growing rift between conservatives and progressives within the RCC. The 56% of U.S. Catholics who believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases according to recent surveys will certainly personalize the bishops’ crusade against Biden. Please note that the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone is not embraced by either conservative or progressive Catholics.

Franciscan friar and priest, Junipero Serra, oversaw the promulgation of Roman Catholicism’s false gospel throughout early-California. He was also an official inquisitor and mandated physical punishment and even torture in cases of native peoples who did not conform to the Catholic rules and regulations propagated by the Franciscan missionaries.

The SBC should have kicked out Saddleback decades ago for Rick Warren’s enthusiastic embrace of the Roman Catholic church and its false gospel of sacramental grace and merit.

Objecting to the brainwashing is viewed as vile bigotry.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 6/19/21

Posted on by Tom

When Catholics refer to “Christian unity” what they mean is Protestants’ eventual disavowal of the Reformation and the genuine Gospel and their recognition and acceptance of papal authority and works-righteousness Catholic doctrine.

The U.S. Catholic bishops met this past week and defied pope Francis by voting to formalize guidelines that would deny the Jesus wafer to Catholic politicians who publicly support pro-abortion legislation, like President Joe Biden and House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

Perhaps some of the reluctance of pope Francis to apologize for the sufferings and deaths of hundreds of children at Catholic-run residential schools in Canada is that apologies connote culpability and lead to monetary payouts to victims and/or their families.

Surprise! There actually are a few conservative and traditionalist Catholics in Germany and they decry the direction of the current “Synodal Path” progressive initiative.

Throughout his tenure, pope Francis has regularly chided his conservative and traditionalist opponents with statements critical of “rigid priests” and “clericalism.”

Jesuit James Martin has been fighting for full acceptance of practicing LGBTers within the RCC. He has the unofficial backing of pope Francis.

I have not heard anything about this Lifewise Academy that’s mentioned in this article. I don’t know their theology, but I suspect they avoid doctrinal distinctives in order to circumvent negative reaction and controversy, i.e., Roman Catholic students can attend their courses without being presented with the genuine Gospel (rejection of works-righteousness religion and salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone).

American evangelicals were outraged by the Supreme Court’s ban on compulsory prayer in public schools in 1962 and have been calling for a return to the practice ever since. I’m not a fan of government-sponsored collective compulsory prayer or even shared “moments of silence,” when the unsaved of every religious stripe jointly contemplate an acceptable-to-all, nebulous “supreme being.”

The tug-of-war within the SBC involves two fronts; the fight over political involvement including “cultural relevancy” issues AND the fight over theology. It just so happens that those who espouse fidelity to doctrinal orthodoxy also largely propagate church-government integralism. What a mess. Expect an SBC split in the near future.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 6/12/21

Posted on by Tom

U.S. Catholic bishops are meeting June 16-18th and will decide whether to defy pope Francis and formalize sanctions against Catholic politicians who support pro-abortion legislation, including denial of communion and the other “sacraments.” As mentioned in the second article, the ongoing “wafer wars” also bring to light the lack of interest and “knowledge” regarding the Jesus wafer, the alleged “source and summit of Catholic spirituality,” among the general Catholic population. A 2019 Pew Research survey revealed only 30% of U.S. Catholics believe that their priests convert bread wafers and wine into the actual body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ as the RCC teaches.

The LGBT steamroller is making significant inroads into the Roman Catholic church, which is not surprising. Credible researchers, including ex-priest and sociologist, Richard Sipe, suggest homosexuals comprise 30-40 percent of the Catholic priest population.

Abuse was rampant at Catholic-run boarding schools throughout the Western world. The startling revelations of widespread abuse at Catholic-run residential schools in Ireland directly contributed to the rapid secularization of that once solidly-Catholic country.

I’m at the point now that I read the Bible almost exclusively via the ESV app on my iPhone. What about you?

The Rochester Catholic diocese filed for bankruptcy back in September 2019 in order to protect its assets from abuse survivors. Those survivors continue to press their claims for compensation in Rochester bankruptcy court. Twenty-six U.S. Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy to date in response to claims against abusive priests and their bishop enablers.

Conservative and traditionalist Catholics are reacting to the substantiated rumor that pope Francis is moving to restrict their beloved Latin mass. Whether the mass is said in English or Latin, it’s anti-Biblical blasphemy that purports that Catholic priests summon Jesus from Heaven, transform Him into a bread wafer, and re-sacrifice Him for sins as the perpetual host (victim).

Is it improper to say, “Good riddance” in this case? As one of the prime architects of the Warren-Drucker-Hybels seeker-sensitive, church-growth model and as an enthusiastic promoter of ecumenism with Roman Catholicism, Rick Warren has compromised the Gospel like few others.

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 6/6/21

Posted on by Tom

Christians should use discernment when it comes to these online conspiracy theories.

Christian nationalism, the conflation of faith and ardent patriotism, is still a very popular paradigm among American Christians and a “God Bless the USA Bible” would have sold well in some quarters. Many Christians are realizing the fanciful notion of America as a “Christian nation” is no longer tenable given today’s realities.

British tabloids are abuzz, questioning how twice-divorced Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was able to be marry his latest bride at a Catholic church-sanctioned ceremony. Catholic marriage laws are complicated and restrictive, but it always seems to work out for wealthy and politically connected members.

The German Catholic church continues on its “Synodal Path” towards radical reforms to the dismay of Catholic conservatives.

Although very few traditionalist Catholics understand Latin, they love the Latin mass because it symbolizes pre-conciliar, militant Catholicism. Progressive pope Francis recognizes that the Latin mass is a bastion of anti-conciliar traditionalism and is working to restrict and eventually eliminate it.

Teachers are on the front lines of this radical social re-engineering.

Why has it taken twenty years of scandalous headlines involving pedophile priests and their bishop enablers for a pope to impose canon law sanctions?

Few people know about the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. The Red Army was determined to “liberate” Poland and advance into Western Europe. But the rag tag Polish forces led by Marshal Józef Piłsudski improbably stopped the Reds at the gates of Warsaw and forced them to retreat back to Moscow. Poles attributed their very unlikely military victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, calling it “The Miracle on the Vistula” (a river next to Warsaw). Joseph Stalin, one of the Red Army’s generals in the campaign, did not forget the humiliating defeat and would subsequently orchestrate the overthrow of Poland by Soviet forces in concert with Adolf Hitler and the German Wehrmacht in September 1939. Where was the Blessed Virgin in 1939?

Welcome to the Weekend Roundup! – News & Views – 5/29/21

Posted on by Tom

Progressive pope Francis has made climate change/ecology one of his top priorities. I’m all for protecting the environment as well, but whether the pope is riding in a gas guzzler or an eco-friendly, all-electric vehicle, the gospel he peddles of salvation by sacramental grace and merit is still a false gospel.

The factual pedophile Catholic clergy and cover-up scandal of the past twenty years has done more to damage the reputation of Catholicism than any fictional movie script. Why are these Indian Catholics getting upset about a movie when their “celibate” prelates and priests have left behind a long line of victims?

There has been a spate of anti-Catholic vandalism reported in the news recently and I imagine some of that was prompted by the Vatican’s March 15th announcement banning the blessing of same-sex unions.

Progressive pope Francis has made several calculated moves with the aim of changing the RCC’s all-male diaconate to the eventual ordination of women, with the ultimate goal of ordaining women as priests. But Francis realizes this is a very controversial issue and is treading slowly.

Unlike with other aberrant (c)hristian sects and cults that use official media materials to brainwash and control their membership, very few Roman Catholics take time out of their day to view RC media.

Notre Dame (“Our Lady”) Catholic University in South Bend, Indiana isn’t exactly known for promoting pre-conciliar, conservative Catholicism, BUT the college views the current “wafer wars” feud over the possible denial of communion for pro-abortion politicians as too much of a hot potato.

Speaking of the “wafer wars,” it will be interesting to see if the U.S. Catholic bishops defy pope Francis at their upcoming meeting and mandate the denial of the Jesus wafer to abortion-supporting Catholic politicians like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.

The COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on Christian churches, but the SBC seems to have been hit particularly hard. Perhaps there’s also some disenchantment with the SBC’s overall drift towards loosey-goosey liberal theology.

Speaking of loosey-goosey theology, Baylor University in Waco, Texas was founded way back in 1845 and is the largest “Baptist” college in the world, but it embraced liberal theology decades ago. This is another example of how the LGBT steamroller is making its way into “Christian” colleges.

Both Gibson and Wahlberg are dedicated Roman Catholics committed to propagating Rome’s false gospel. Unwary evangelical fans of Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” (2004) overlooked the Mariolatrous elements (Mary as co-Redemptrix and co-Mediator) included in the film.

Truth from Arkansas! Sunday Sermon Series, #85

Posted on by Tom

It’s Two-fer-Tuesday, my friends, which normally means two new sermons from the brethren down in Arkansas.

Brother Wally didn’t upload a sermon from Holly Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Star City for whatever reason, but we do have Pastor Roger Copeland of Northern Hills Baptist Church in Texarkana, preaching from Exodus 2:1-10 on “Raising Champions for Christ.” This sermon was delivered on Sunday, May 9th.

Pastor Roger Copeland – Raising Champions for Christ