The Pope wants to change the Lord's Prayer....and other thoughts!

December 8, 2017, a day which will live in infamy....OK, that date was already set aside for December 7th for another infamous event! But today, Pope Francis (aka Jorge Bergoglio), or as some like to call him "Red" Francis, for his socialist tendencies and/or sympathies, came out today calling for a change to the Lord's Prayer. It is the Lord's Prayer since it was instituted by the Lord, Jesus Christ, called the Word in John 1. That is some chutzpah...audacity, temerity or blasphemy, in my view of the Pope! In fairness, he got the idea from the French Catholic Church, it seems.

Anyway, the Bishop of Rome seems to think that the line, "lead us not into temptation.." in the Lord's Prayer leads people to believe that God causes temptation. First of all, James 1:13-14 notes, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." In an article on www.npr.org, the Pope basically reiterated James 1:13-14, saying "it's not the Lord that tempts". He is right about that! 

However, a close reading of the Lord's Prayer doesn't say that God tempts people, either. Instead, of exercising his papal desire to "become holier than the Bible" or more holy than Christ Himself, Pope "Red" could have merely directed "the faithful" to James 1:13-14, as well as urging a careful reading of the Lord's Prayer itself. But as we shall see, popes like to make a name for themselves, perhaps thinking they are "holier than the Bible." In fairness, he thinks this line is a "bad translation." Really...after hundreds of years??? He is the first pope to be so concerned about this? 

The Roman Catholic Church, in my first-hand experience as a former Roman Catholic, tends to like to "dumb down" doctrine or make up its own doctrine, so folks don't have to be "bothered" with actually reading the Bible, it seems. An example is the distinction between mortal and venial sins, which is a Roman Catholic innovation carved from I John 5:16-17, perhaps. 

The Pope could have and should have--if he were exercising the role of a true spiritual shepherd--also pointed out that the Bible is "living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword" per Hebrews 4:12 and also II Timothy 2:15, which notes the need to "rightly divide the word of truth." Instead, Mr. Bergoglio and most Roman Catholic clergy don't seem to like to have their members "hang out" in the Bible too long in my experience. My personal informed opinion is that this would undermine their spiritual authority, their mediation (instead of allowing Jesus alone to be our mediator per I Timothy 2:5) . The Roman Catholic Church likes to point folks quickly back to its tradition, "reason-based" doctrine (instead of the Bible) that keeps them under the Church's control.  Jesus warned, in one way or another, continually about making "doctrines out of the traditions of men" (Mark 7), ultimately being betrayed by the Pharisees', the champion "tradition keepers" of his day! Proverbs 3:5-6 urges us to "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding..."

Perhaps the Pope's announcement today is appropriate? December 8th is the Roman Church's feast day for another extra-biblical innovation based in human reason and tradition....the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, pronounced as a dogmatic truth by Pope Pius IX in 1854.  Mary, it is reasoned, "was just too special to have sinned"; this conflicts with Romans 3:23 and makes her effectively divine, as well. Pope Pius IX took a break for a number of years and then added Papal Infallibility as another dogmatic doctrine in 1870, based in a hyper-literal exaggeration of Matthew 16:18. Pope Paul VI added the idea that birth control was immoral, again not biblical. Pope John Paul II, although correctly urging holiness and speaking out boldly against abortion during his tenure, did encourage a misguided unity among so-called monotheistic religions (even though Islam is pagan and antichrist, not worshiping the true God). Popes like to be remembered but they forget Revelation 22:18-19 warning!

And back to Pope Francis, who championed the cause of Muslim immigrants, becoming a naive partner in the Muslim invasion of Europe and other nations with their deceitful agenda, while not addressing strongly the truly persecuted refugees, Christians! Mr. Bergoglio also ventured into science, speaking out for the environment and the climate-change hoax/ "junk science" agenda. This type of "crusade" engenders favor with the misguided world while giving the Vatican "a seat at the table" as a moral authority! The rabidly antichrist secularists who typically squeal about the separation of church and state were quite happy to welcome this misguided, apostate Pope as a "moral stamp" on their globalist agenda! The Catholic Church really excels at giving the gift of guilt! It seems the lesson of the Catholic Church's misguided ventures into science, persecuting Galileo many years ago, has been forgotten by an even more misguided world, today.

Pope Francis has been warmly received, even given "rock star" treatment by the world and misguided politicians like Barack Obama. True Christians should refer to I John 4:5-6 as a test. An excerpt notes, "...They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them." This biblical test and Pope Francis' ongoing unwillingness to quote the Bible but rather attempt to change it, should raise "red flags" about him!

In summary, the question/ objection raised by Pope Francis about the Lord's Prayer would have been an excellent opportunity to teach the Bible and point out it needs to be "rightly divided" as the "double-edged sword" of truth that it is, as well as to encourage believers to pursue the "full counsel of God" available in the Bible. Instead, the Catholic Church tends to like to dismiss the Word (aka Jesus Christ per John 1), saying, ".. you can't take it literally"... or, if you are as nervey as Pope "Red" Francis, you just go ahead and change the Word! Roman Catholics, in my experience, get quite defensive when you jokingly challenge them to pray to their pope. Actions, as they say, speak louder than words! Do they not seem quite willing to dismiss the Bible and cling to "rock star", Pope "Red" Francis' "cooler, hipper" path! Following him on the path of apostasy endangers their soul!!!

Dangers to the Soul

The Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13 provides the inspiration for this posting, at least in part.

This parable addresses how the human heart will respond to the Gospel.

The parable addresses four possible responses:

• Either total rejection from the hard path,
• Initial joy squelched by worldly pressures,
• Growth being choked out by the thorns of worldly concerns of life, wealth, etc., and
• Finally the good soil that produces "thirty, sixty and one-hundred fold."

In brief some of the dangers to our soul, the hazards of living on this planet, can be:

• Sexual sins and lusts
• Misplaced loyalty to a person or organization rather than ultimately to God's Word/ Jesus Christ
• A desire to conform to or be part of the world
• A concern for worldly promotion, wealth and advancement
• Dissipation, i.e. reckless living, partying, vain pursuit of pleasure
• Societal pressures
• Fear
• And even being misled by false teaching about God's Word by not "rightly dividing" it properly according to II Timothy 2:15.

Originally written 8/25/2016.