Pope Establishes One World Religion

When the Pope arrived for his 2015 visit to the US, people chanted as if worshiping him when he disembarked from the plane. He was greeted at the foot of the stairs by Barack Obama, who at that time held the office of US President. The news report said he was the "rock star pope", because of his popularity.

On September 24, 2015, the Pope addressed a joint session of the US Congress, which is the first time this has ever occurred in history. He did so upon invitation from the leaders of Congress. Behind him at the podium sat two of the most prominent Catholics in the country, Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker John Boehner. And the Pope later met with Barack Obama privately. The White House would not say what the two of them discussed, and there was nobody in the room with them except for translators.

Could it be that in this meeting, the Pope discussed plans for a one world order with a one world religion? It is certainly possible, based on the words he spoke in his address before Congress and his actions later at an ecumenical gathering in New York City.

Pope's Address Before Congress

Pope Francis Addresses Congress, September 2015

First, I would like to quote from the text of the Pope's Congressional speech to provide proof that the he did in fact call for a one world religion of peace.

"Our world is increasingly a place of violent conflict, hatred and brutal atrocities, committed even in the name of God and of religion. We know that no religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind. A delicate balance is required to combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology or an economic system, while also safeguarding religious freedom, intellectual freedom and individual freedoms. But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps. We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted to feed the enemy within. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject."

"Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace and justice. We are asked to summon the courage and the intelligence to resolve today’s many geopolitical and economic crises. Even in the developed world, the effects of unjust structures and actions are all too apparent. Our efforts must aim at restoring hope, righting wrongs, maintaining commitments, and thus promoting the well-being of individuals and of peoples. We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good."

"The challenges facing us today call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation, which has accomplished so much good throughout the history of the United States. The complexity, the gravity and the urgency of these challenges demand that we pool our resources and talents, and resolve to support one another, with respect for our differences and our convictions of conscience."

"In this land, the various religious denominations have greatly contributed to building and strengthening society. It is important that today, as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard, for it is a voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society. Such cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to eliminate new global forms of slavery, born of grave injustices which can be overcome only through new policies and new forms of social consensus."

"Politics is, instead, an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice and peace, its goods, its interests, its social life. I do not underestimate the difficulty that this involves, but I encourage you in this effort."

"This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Recently my brother bishops here in the United States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation."

"...in times of crisis and economic hardship a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost."

"It goes without saying that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth."

"In Laudato Si’, I call for a courageous and responsible effort to 'redirect our steps' (ibid., 61), and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States – and this Congress – have an important role to play. Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a 'culture of care' (ibid., 231) and 'an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature' (ibid., 139)."

"It is my duty to build bridges and to help all men and women, in any way possible, to do the same."

" A good political leader is one who, with the interests of all in mind..."

"Being at the service of dialogue and peace also means being truly determined to minimize and, in the long term, to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world."

Now let's take these words he spoke to Congress and couple them together with what he did in New York City.

Pope's New York City Ecumenical Meeting
Indeed, the one world religion is rising. During his visit to the US, the Pope met with leaders of many different world religions in New York City to talk about healing. The pope prayed for peace with those religious leaders, which shows that he wants to bring all religions together. At that event, the people were singing a song about peace.

This is not the first time such an event has happened. Pope John Paul II did the same sort of thing at the Interreligious Talks in Assisi in 1986, and so did Pope Benedict at the 25th Interreligious Talks in 2011, which I wrote about in my article, New Age-New World Order.

Pope's Address at Ground Zero
As he spoke at the Interreligious Meeting at Ground Zero in New York City, he said that the we must build global unity on the basis of our diversity of religions. He said, "For all our differences and disagreements, we can experience a world of peace. In opposing every attempt to create a rigid uniformity, we can and must build unity on the basis of our diversity of languages, cultures and religions, and lift our voices against everything which would stand in the way of such unity. Together we are called to say “no” to every attempt to impose uniformity and “yes” to a diversity accepted and reconciled."

Pope's Address to St. Patrick's Cathedral
As he began his address to the audience gathered to hear him at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, he made a reference to his "Muslim brothers and sisters." This assumes that those of the Muslim faith are brothers and sisters with those who follow Christ, but this is not a biblical concept. For more on this, please see my article, Children of God.

Personal Relationship with Jesus is Dangerous
Incidentally, I also want to make you aware of the fact that the Pope has stated that it is dangerous to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This statement of his goes directly against Scripture. At his weekly Wednesday address to a general audience of 33,000 people in January 2014, he said, "There are those who believe you can have a personal, direct, and immediate relationship with Jesus Christ outside the communion and mediation of the Church. These temptations are dangerous and harmful. They are, in the words of the great Pope Paul VI, 'absurd dichotomies.'"

Moreover, he has described fundamentalist Christians as mentally ill. The following are excerpts from an article on LifeSite, in which several reporters heard the Pope saying these things on the papal plane in November 2015:

“Fundamentalism is a sickness that is in all religions,” Francis said, as reported by the National Catholic Reporter’s Vatican correspondent, Joshua McElwee, and similarly by other journalists on the plane.  “We Catholics have some — and not some, many — who believe in the absolute truth and go ahead dirtying the other with calumny, with disinformation, and doing evil.”

“They do evil,” said the pope. “I say this because it is my church.”

“We have to combat it,” he said. “Religious fundamentalism is not religious, because it lacks God. It is idolatry, like the idolatry of money.”

The Pope had also said previously in 2014 that “A fundamentalist group, even if it kills no one, even it strikes no one, is violent. The mental structure of fundamentalism is violence in the name of God.”

This helps to explain what kind of one-world religion he is advocating. It embraces all religions, except those which believe and teach that you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ without the mediation of the Catholic Church. If you are a fundamentalist who believes that God's Word is absolutely true, then you don't fit into his one-world religion, because he believes that you are "sick," "violent," "doing evil," and that he must "combat" you.

Prophecies Regarding the False Prophet and Beast

The Pope was Time magazine's Person of the Year in their December 2015 edition. Interestingly, in the cover photo of him, the top of the letter "M" in "TIME" was positioned in exactly the right spot to make it appear as if he had tiny lamb's horns on his head.

It reminds me of the verse about the false prophet that says, "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon." (Rev 13:11).

In my opinion, Pope Francis definitely fits this description. Amazingly, when he was first introduced as the new Pope on March 13, 2013 (numerically written 3-13-13), the shadow of his head had two small horns on it (pictured below). I also find it amazing that the date of that announcement and the chapter number (13) of the book of Revelation describing him are the same. (For more on his role, please see my article, Pope Francis Supports Homosexuality). 

That same passage in Revelation 13 tells us about the relationship the false prophet will have with the first beast. "He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed." (Rev 13:12)

What is so ironic about this passage is that the very next verse that continues to describe the false prophet, which is 13:13, is just like the date that Pope Francis was announced on 3-13-13. It says: "And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people."  (Rev 13:13). The pronoun "it" in this verse refers back to the false prophet mentioned in verse 12. And verse 14 also confirms that this is about the false prophet, because it says that he has power to perform signs on behalf of the first beast.

Announced as new Pope on March 13. 2013

In order to find out what the first beast is like, we go to the beginning of the same chapter, which states: 

"And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?" There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." (Rev 13:1-8)

This is the description of the first beast, who will amaze the whole earth by his fatal wound that was healed. He will have authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. All who dwell on earth whose names are not in the Book of Life will worship him. This is the antichrist ruler that the false prophet will work closely with. He is also called "the son of destruction" by the apostle Paul.

In speaking about the coming of the day of the Lord, Paul said, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God." (2Th 2:3-4). He meant that before the day of the Lord comes, there will first be a great falling away of those who profess Christ, and the son of destruction will be revealed on earth. The man of lawlessness will come to the fore and take his seat.

The Nature of the One-World Religion for "Peace"
You need to understand that ecumenism and the one-world religion for peace is the goal of the Roman Catholic Church. At a “world peace” gathering in Fatima, Portugal, where each year people from religions around the world convene to pray to Mary (known as "Our Lady of Fatima" and "Our Lady of Peace"), Jesuit priest Jacques Dupuis defined the nature of this religion when he stated:

"The religion of the future will be a general converging of religions in a universal Christ that will satisfy all. The other religious traditions in the world are part of God’s plan for humanity and the Holy Spirit is operating and present in Buddhist, Hindu and other sacred writings of Christian and non-Christian faiths as well. The universality of God’s kingdom permits this, and this is nothing more than a diversified form of sharing in the same mystery of salvation."

Putting it All Together
We can learn a lot from the words the Pope spoke during his address to Congress and from his actions at the Inter-religious prayer gathering in New York City in 2015. In his address to a joint session of Congress, he emphasized the following points:

1. Guard against fundamentalism: "No religion is immune from forms of individual delusion or ideological extremism. This means that we must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind."
2. Guard against seeing the world as good and evil, righteous and sinners, and instead blur the lines: "...we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners...we [must] confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps."
3. Join together to bring hope and world peace: "Our response must instead be one of hope and healing, of peace...Being at the service of dialogue and peace..."
4. Join together as one in a global brotherhood with solidarity for common good: "We must move forward together, as one, in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good."
5. All religious denominations and all people must cooperate together globally as one: "The challenges facing us today call for a renewal of that spirit of cooperation...the various religious denominations...the voice of faith...is a voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society. Such cooperation is a powerful resource in the battle to eliminate new global forms of slavery..."
6. We must have a new global consensus (i.e., general agreement among society worldwide): "...grave injustices...can be overcome only through new policies and new forms of social consensus."
7. We need unity and solidarity among the global community in order to share in peace: "...our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good: that of a community which sacrifices particular interests in order to share, in justice and peace... a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost... It is my duty to build bridges and to help all men and women, in any way possible, to do the same...with the interests of all in mind
8. We need to redistribute the wealth: "...the creation and distribution of wealth."
9. We need to save the earth from destruction by humans: "...avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity."
10. We need world peace: "...to end the many armed conflicts throughout our world...[and] the abolition of the death penalty."

I ask you to consider these ten points together with his words at Ground Zero that we must build global unity on the basis of our diversity of religions, so that we can experience world peace, and that we must raise our voices against everything that would hinder such unity. Consider how he refers to Muslims as brothers and sisters, and how tolerant he is of all religions.

Consider how negatively he views those people who believe you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ without the mediation of the Catholic Church, and how leery he is of every type of fundamentalism, including the religious kind, which he seems to equate with ideological extremism. Keep in mind that he did not exclude from his black list those Christians that are deemed to be fundamentalists, who believe the Bible is actually true, but in fact considers them to be sick, violent, evil doers that he must fight against. Recall the horrific persecution of Protestant Christians throughout history by the Catholic Church, especially by the Jesuits who are avowed enemies of Protestant Christian liberty. Remember that the Pope himself is a Jesuit. Learn from history that one of the Jesuits' crucial tactics, which they have used successfully against their Protestant enemies, and are still using, is to infiltrate their ranks and undermine them from within. Of course, it is well-documented that another one of their key tactics is to persecute the Protestants, even unto death.

I am one of many who believes the Pope will join hands with a political world leader to establish a one world religion of peace, which may have already occurred at this point, in light of all that took place during his 2015 visit to the United States. This one world religion is going to be accepted by all the political leaders of the world, because it promotes and guarantees peace. Many Christians will also embrace it. Beware, people! Don't be deceived by it along with the masses.

Jesus said, "Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division." (Luk 12:51)

The apostle Paul wrote, "While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape." (1 Thes 5:3)

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Photos of pope used according to Fair Use Act that allows their use for educational and commentary purposes. Federal Law allows citizens to reproduce, distribute, or exhibit portions of copyrighted motions pictures, video tapes, or video discs without authorization of the copyright holder. This infringement of copyright is called "Fair Use", and is allowed for purposes of criticism, news reporting, teaching, and parody. For the full transcript of the Pope's messages at these gatherings, please see this link.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend New Age-New World Order, Pagan Symbols of the Popes, Pope Francis Supports Homosexuality, Former Pope in Hell Declared a Saint,  and Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church. I also suggest visiting this site about the Jesuit Vatican.  You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Shack is an Attack

I have never read the book called The Shack, but what little I have read about it from some of the reviews shows me it has serious theological problems known as heresies (falsehoods). Rather than try and reproduce another review of my own, I will instead link to some of the reviews that already exist. I recommend the following:

The Shack Heresy

Thirteen Heresies in the Shack

CARM's Take on the Shack

The Shack -- The Missing Art of Evangelical Discernment

I hope you will take a moment to read these articles and consider what they are communicating from the Word of God about that book, which The Shack movie is also based on. Based on what has been presented in these articles, the book is a myth that tickles people's ears. "They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Tim 4:4). Let me encourage you to read my article, Not Enduring Sound Doctrine.

This is not just a book, it is an assault on sound doctrine. Now they have come out with The Shack movie based on the book, which is endorsed by many pastors and ministry leaders. In fact, they even have The Shack Outreach Campaign for churches, so they can buy an official copy of The Shack Movie Church Kit and a license to show the movie in church. The Shack Campaign Kit is a 5-Week kit that comes with five sermons, film clips, a planning guide, digital resources like web and social media graphics, PowerPoint templates, bulletin insert templates, and sample invitation tools to invite people to come and see the series at church. Moreover, they even sell a separate study guide for The Shack Campaign, which contains discussion questions and personal applications, so that small groups, families, and individuals can study the things presented in the book and movie. Obviously this goes beyond mere entertainment into the realm of preaching and teaching the concepts of this movie and book in the Church, as if they were biblical truths.

Although these slick marketing resources are presented as an invitation to experience the ultimate truth about love, loss, and forgiveness, that is simply a facade. In reality, this is an attempt to make a deeper penetration into the Body of Christ with this heresy. This is brainwashing propaganda for the masses. The Shack is not based on fact, but rather is an evil attack from the enemy to bring mass deception. Beware! Don't be one of the millions who are being deceived by it. And don't let those you love be deceived by it either. If God has used this this article to open your eyes, then share this article with them, too.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The Shack image used according to Fair Use laws for commentary and educational purposes only.

Author's note:  I also recommend reading The Message Bible or "The Mess", Not Enduring Sound Doctrine, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught, Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies, Ask for the Ancient Paths, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, God Forgives and Forgets, The Law of Christ, Deleted Scriptures in the Bible?, Costly Grace, Is Obedience Optional?, Is Practical Righteousness a Lost Truth?, Practicing Your Righteousness, Faith Works!, The Ways of Life, Scripture Alone, Accurately Handling the Word of Truth, Exposing Heresy, The Rise of Antichrists, Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, Angelica Zambrabo Hell and Heaven, The Cost of Discipleship, and Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God. You can access the Home page of this blog for more articles on Truth and heresy, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

The Creation Gap Theory

I used to believe in the creation gap theory, which is the belief that there is a gap of some indefinite period of time that elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 or between 1:2 and 1:3. Now the Lord has helped me to see that this is not true and does great injustice to the Scriptures. Let me show you what I mean. There are many good articles out there that treat the subject exhaustively, but I don't intend to do that. I simply want to show you some of the most compelling reasons I found.

First of all, let's look at the passage in question. It states:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,” and there was light.'" (Gen 1:1-3, NIV)

If you are like me, you may have thought that God created the heavens and the earth before the creation week, and then they were in place as raw materials for Him to work with when He made everything else. You may have believed that the earth either became formless and void at some point after God created it, or that it remained in that state until the first day of creation when He created light. However, this is not what the text says, if we read the meaning directly out of it.

No Verse Divisions or Break in the Text
In the original Hebrew Scriptures there were no verse numbers to provide any break in this text. Moreover, there is nothing in the Hebrew grammar to indicate that there was any break in the narrative. As Dr. Jonathan Sarfati  of Creation Ministries points out in his article, How Genesis 13 Undermines the Gap Theory, in Genesis 1 "there are grammatical terms, called the waw consecutive and waw disjunctive." Essentially what we learn from these is that in 1:1 the narrative begins, then in 1:2 there is a disjunctive clause, which we can identify by the structure of the verbs. A disjunctive clause is a side-step or parenthetical remark that comments on what was just stated. The Scripture states, "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." Then in 1:3 there is a consecutive clause indicating that the narrative which began in the first sentence in 1:1 is now continuing. It's like saying in English, "And then..." The Scripture states, "And [then] God said, 'Let there be light,” and there was light.'" If you will consider that, it is a very good reason why there could not be a long gap between any of those verses.

No Death Before Adam's Sin
One reason why some people adopt the gap theory is to try to synchronize the Bible with the claims of modern science. Since scientists claim that the geological column (or layers of fossils) proves that the earth is millions of years old, they see the need to add a gap before the first day of creation to allow for a long period of time when another race of beings lived and died upon the earth. They feel this best explains how there could be fossils that are believed to be so old, dating to a time long before the period of Adam and Eve.

However, according to the apostle Paul, death came into the world as a result of Adam's sin. He states, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." (Rom 5:12). This means there could be no death before the sin of Adam, hence no fossils.

Nothing Visible before the Six Days of Creation
However, for me the most compelling reason was that the Lord created everything in the natural, visible realm in six literal days, and his act of creating the heavens and the earth occurred during those six days.

We know the days of creation are literal, because at the end of each day of creation is says, "And there was evening and there was morning," then it says the number of the day, such as day one, the second day the third day, etc.  We know that when an evening and morning pass by, we are talking about a 24-hour period or literal day.

Secondly, Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." If we say that God created the heavens and the earth before He began the six day creative week, we contradict the Scriptures. For they say that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth. Here are the passages where this is explicitly stated:

"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven." (Gen 2:1-4)

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (Exo 20:11)

"It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed." (Exo 31:17).

According to the apostle, all that we see in the visible realm was made out of that which is invisible. "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." (Heb 11:3). God did not make the heavens and the earth out of visible matter that He had previously created. It says He prepared the worlds by His Word and made that which is visible out of that which is invisible.

While the gap theory was taught in the early nineteenth century by a notable Scottish theologian named Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), it was Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, whose Reference Bible (Oxford University Press, 1909) helped to popularized it. However, more recently another man named Jack C. Scofield has written an article disproving the gap theory. He sums it up better than I can in his article called The Gap Theory of Genesis Chapter One, in which he states:

"The gap theorists would have us believe that a long break occurs between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 and then in verse three the 're-creation' week begins. This reasoning would separate the 'creation of heaven and earth' from the rest of the week by some indefinite time period, and certainly then, by their own reasoning, the ‘heaven and earth' creation cannot be considered to be a part of the re-creative week which follows. There are some Scriptures which disagree with this logic, namely Genesis 2:1 to 4 and Exodus 20:11 and 31:17. These verses clearly include the creation or making of the “heaven and earth” within the six creative days. To insist on a creation of the “heaven and earth” separate from the six stated days does great injustice to these texts. It must be pointed out that the Genesis 1:1 statement is the only creative statement in the entire first chapter with reference to “heaven.” If we are to understand the words of the Exodus verses in the sense of their clear, plain meaning and common usage, then we must conclude that day one began with Genesis 1:1, and therefore no gap."

I hope that this has helped to explain why the gap theory cannot be true, according to the Word of God.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The "Deception" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm all rights reserved by the artist. Please view it on his official website, Inspired Art.

Author's note:  I also recommend reading Understanding the Gaps in Scripture, Pope Validates Evolution and Big Bang Theory, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, The Origin of Sin, Satan, and Secular Music, The Rise and Fall of Lucifer the Musician. You can access the Home page of this blog for more articles on Truth and heresy, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

Exposing the Darkness within HOREMOW

The issues and concerns that I have with the Holiness Revival Movement Worldwide (HOREMOW), which I covered in my first article, are not limited to those pertaining to Michael Sambo. This matter is not about Paul Rika and Michael Sambo. It is much larger than that. In this second part of my report, I would like to document the broader issues.

Growth by Divine Revelations
HOREMOW began with Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, which I have written about in my article by that title. At the beginning, it was just Paul Rika traveling and speaking with Michael Sambo.

Then more people that had divine revelations joined HOREMOW on their own, while some others claimed that God directed them to HOREMOW. Still others were told that there are people God is using to change the world through divine revelation messages. So they all joined together under the HOREMOW banner in that organization led by Paul Rika.

Paul Rika, HOREMOW Int'l Director

He himself keeps saying that God has given him the call to mentor all these people with divine revelations, so that they don't speak error, because he knows the Scriptures.

It is very obvious that HOREMOW grew by the instrumentality of Divine revelations. At one time everybody that had received a divine revelation spoke at the HOREMOW conferences in Abuja, Nigeria, as well as at meetings in some other locations, and people love to hear such testimonies.

There were certainly genuine revelations that were spoken in those meetings. However, there were clearly fake ones, too, according to my source. They came speaking many words of praise to Paul Rika, who likes the praise of men (Joh 5:41,44;12:43). Whenever anyone says something that praises him, he considers it to be from God, but if anyone says something that does not favor him, then he considers it to be from satan. A man is tested by the praise he receives, and those who flatter their neighbors are spreading nets for their feet (Pr 27:21; 29:5).

This is how HOREMOW was established initially and later grew. Moreover, some of the people joined because Paul Rika personally invited them to speak in HOREMOW meetings. Many of them later became part of HOREMOW, but when some of them discovered Paul Rika wanted to subject them under his control, they left one by one.

Control
This brings me to my next point, which is that Paul Rika is seeking to control people. For example, he was angry with Mike because he chose to rent a home without his knowledge. Paul had looked for a two-bedroom apartment for Mike, but the one he found was not suitable for Mike, who chose instead to look for a house.

Michael Thomas Sambo

Mike eventually found a two-bedroom apartment of his own choice, after which he informed Paul. But Paul complained that this apartment was too expensive, so he told Mike, “Whenever there is money, we shall pay,” because HOREMOW had just finished holding their December conference, as well as their leadership conference in January 2014, where the Rika's wedding ceremony was conducted. Although Mike waited, Paul Rika never did pay Mike's rent as promised. Neither had he ever paid Mike's rent previously.

Later Mike got a larger, three-bedroom apartment for the same price, which God provided him with the money to pay for. After he paid for this accommodation of his own choice, he informed Paul that he did so, but that it was now a different one. Even though it did not cost any more than the two-bedroom one, Paul got angry.

He was also agitated with Mike for establishing a poultry farm without informing him before doing so, claiming that by establishing the farm, Mike is pursuing money by having poultry, and that he had forsaken preaching the gospel.

This is controlling and manipulative behavior, which is used to lord it over others, and not the loving, tenderhearted, compassionate way we are commanded to treat one another (1 Pe 5:3). We are not supposed to allow people to control us (1Co 7:23).

Moreover, there is no Scripture against a minister of the gospel working for a living. Those who preach the gospel have a right to make their living from the gospel (1 Cor 9:1-11,13-14). However, they may choose not to use this right (1 Cor 9:12,15). After all, even the apostle Paul was a tentmaker (Ac 18:3), who did hard work toiling with his hands (1 Cor 4:12a).

There is also no Scripture against a disciple owning or renting property. On the one hand, the Lord did say in His Word, “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” (Luk 14:33). But is all ownership evil? If it were, then when God told the prophet Jeremiah to buy land, that would have been a sin (Jer 32:6-15). What about when Boaz bought the field of Naomi (Ruth 4:1-10)? What about the field he already owned before he bought that one (Ruth 2:3)?

In the New Testament, the disciples all had their own homes. It says, “So the disciples went away again to their own homes. “ (Joh 20:10). Peter and Andrew owned a house, in which it appears that Peter’s mother-in-law also lived, so it could not have been too small (Mk 1:29-30; Mt 8:14). Martha welcomed Jesus into her own home (Lk 10:38). Jesus ate at the house of Matthew (Mt 9:10), and He said to Zaccheus, "I must stay at your house today" (Lk 19:5). He was anointed at the home of Simon the Leper (Mt 26:6). In making arrangements to eat the Last Supper, He instructed His disciples to ask permission from the "owner" of a house to use a guest room (Lk 22:11). He sent out His disciples with instructions to stay in the home of a worthy person, whenever they entered a town or village (Mt 10:11). He referred to a prophet having his own home (Mt 13:57; Mk 6:4). John took Mary into His own home (Jn 19:27). Peter once stayed at the home of another disciple named Simon the tanner, who owned a house by the sea in Joppa (Acts 9:43; 10:6,32). Paul once stayed at the house of a disciple named Judas on Straight Street in Damascus (Ac 9:11). The saints gathered together and prayed at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Ac 12:12). Yet not a word of condemnation is spoken against any of these disciples for owning homes.

If ownership were evil, then stealing would not be a sin. Yet the Lord commands us not to steal (Eph. 4:28). This means that there is such a thing as people owning property.

Linda Paul Rika

Let me give you one more example of control. Following Mike Sambo’s hearing on 22 September 2015, he initially accepted and submitted to Paul Rika’s discipline for a brief period. But after further consideration, he recalled that Paul Rika had made some outstanding statements to people that he could never work with Mike. He began to understand the strife he had suffered since the beginning of the HOREMOW ministry, and realized that while Paul Rika had initially wanted Mike's testimony, he did not want him as a person. He had blocked Mike from many preaching engagements both within and outside Nigeria just because he wanted to have control, assert himself, and edge Mike out. So Mike decided to continue with his ministry. He left for Ghana on a ministry trip, and upon his return Linda Rika came up with a revelation that Mike, his wife, and his two children would face the judgment of God just as God dealt with Korah, Dathan and Abiram in the book of Numbers.

In other words, she implied that the ground was going to open up and swallow Mike and his family and all his property, because he did not submit to her husband’s indefinite discipline of Mike. Or perhaps she meant to imply that they would soon die suddenly. Either way, that is clearly a form of intimidation, manipulation, or control, which has no place in the Church. And since her words never came to pass, this is another example of one of Linda’s false prophecies.

Character Assassination
In addition to the ways that Linda has used false prophecies to attack brother Mike, there are yet other abuses as well.

The HOREMOW coordinator for Ebonyi state in Nigeria shared a dream he had that someone very close to Paul Rika was hurting him and wanted to betray him, and that Paul had been monitoring him for a while. This was shared on 31 January 2015, and that very same night a committee was set up to investigate Michael Sambo. During the investigation, Mike said he was not the one the coordinator dreamed about, and besides he was not planning to betray Paul.

Moreover, Paul separately told Mike’s friend, brother Titus who was then the Gombe state coordinator, that a revelation (i.e., supernaturally) had come forth indicating that Mike had committed adultery, but that Mike did not want to confess because of pride. He also told brother Titus that the women’s coordinator of Gombe state had a revelation that someone working very close to Paul Rika wants to kill him, and that this revelation is also pointing to Mike. He added that the revelations regarding Mike are numerous. Later Mike heard from Emmanuel David that he was even being accused of having a child out of wedlock as a result of this adultery. This slanderous rumor had been spread within Nigeria and the West African sub region with absolutely no evidence. In fact the video crew brother that recorded this false revelation from sister Linda about Mike told him that he was the one that recorded it in Paul Rika's house in the Apo Legislative quarters of Abuja. Mike was in Ghana and Uganda for ministry, and there he was told that this is what they heard her say.

Not a shred of evidence was ever shown to prove this; no woman was ever named as the mistress and there was no evidence of any baby out of wedlock. No witnesses were produced to testify of such things. It was all based on Linda’s revelation and the coordinator’s dream, even though the Scripture says not to entertain an accusation against an elder, except by two or three witnesses (1 Tim 5:19). It does not say we should entertain an accusation against an elder based on two or three dreams or revelations.

On 1 February 2015, a meeting was held to hear the committee's report of their findings from the investigation in connection with the Ebonyi state coordinator's revelation. In attendance at that meeting were Mike Sambo, his wife, brother Mikailu, Paul Rika, and Paul’s administrative Secretary, pastor Nathan. Paul began to tell Mike that he had looked around the entire HOREMOW movement and had not seen anybody to be examined except Mike. He said, “You are the only one to be examined under the revelation of the Ebonyi State Coordinator,” and he began saying, “You are under judgment. I say you are under divine judgment. Your name is not in the book of life. If you die today you will go to hell." This all happened in the presence of Mikailu, Nathan, and Mike’s wife. He also said, "Go and pray whether God will give you another chance in HOREMOW. God will answer us, because He will speak. And whatever God says, I will do it. I will not respect any person." This was said with with emotion. Yet until now Paul Rika goes from place to place stirring hatred against Mike, telling people in the crusade grounds that Mike is under the control of Satan and evil spirits.

And Mike is not the only one in HOREMOW who has been the object of character assassination or mistreatment from Paul and Linda. I am aware of others, including the former Rivers state coordinator, the former Lagos state coordinator Joseph Abueh; a certain pastor Hanson; Danasabe Yakubu; the former Cross River state coordinator Israel Abasi; the former Sierra Leone coordinator named pastor Baimba Sesay; and many more people are victims of Linda’s revelations. According to one of my sources, all of them were dropped, and are no longer in HOREMOW. This pastor Baimba worked tirelessly in spreading and establishing HOREMOW. He was the one that brought Linda and her sister Finda to Nigeria into HOREMOW. But he was labeled, slandered, and dropped. This list will expand as I am given permission to do so.

No good shepherd would even treat his sheep like this. How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! "Paul, Paul, why do you persecute me? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting."

A tree will be recognized by its fruit. "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Mt 12:34b-37, NIV).

The Unmerciful Servant
Paul Rika's actions resemble those of the unmerciful servant who was forgiven much, yet refused to forgive the one who owed him a relatively small amount (Mt 18:21-35). Two examples will suffice to make my point.

First of all, Danasabe Yakubu was dropped from HOREMOW in September 2016 simply because he was on speaking terms with Mike Sambo and he lay down holding Paul Rika’s legs pleading on Mike’s behalf that Paul Rika should forgive him. But Paul Rika quoted the case of Solomon, Bathsheba, and Adonijah, and asked why he doesn’t just ask for the kingdom for Mike instead of asking for forgiveness (1King 2:22).

Secondly, after Mike Sambo’s hearing on 22 September 2015, Emmanuel David and Jeff-Zanni went to Paul Rika the next morning to continue pleading on his behalf. Jeff-Zanni pleaded with Paul Rika to allow him to mediate in the matter, but Paul Rika refused saying, "When Mike knelt down and was apologizing, I wanted to forgive him, but something told me 'No, Mike was pretending.' So then I withdrew my forgiveness, because people do all manner of things against me and I keep quiet for a long time, but when I bite the person he cannot recover."

Who was speaking through Paul Rika saying, "When I bite the person he cannot recover."? That is not the Holy Spirit. We are supposed to love one another and not bite one another. "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." (Gal 5:14-15, NIV).

About two weeks later, Jeff-Zanni met him privately to challenge his decision to discipline Mike, because Paul Rika had falsely denied ever telling Mike that his name was not in the book of life, even though he had shared with Jeff-Zanni in a previous meeting that revelation had been made to that effect. But after a long argument, in which Jeff-Zanni gave convincing proof to him, Paul Rika finally agreed that he had indeed told Jeff-Zanni that Mike had backslidden and that his name was not in the book of life.

Jeff then said to him "But you denied this when you disciplined Mike, and now you have agreed with me that you said so. If this is the case, then Mike was right for not honoring the two speaking engagements, and based on your conviction the discipline you gave Mike is wrong. So what are you supposed to do now?"

Paul Rika replied, "Are you now saying I should do restitution to Mike? No, I will never apologize to Mike."

Paul Rika then asked Jeff what he thought could be the way out. Jeff-Zanni said he should forgive Mike, so that the work of the gospel can continue. But Paul Rika said "No, I will not forgive him."

Jesus said, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Mt 6:14-15, NIV)

Pride and Arrogance
Moreover, Paul Rika is operating in pride and arrogance.

At his hearing on 22 September 2015, brother Mike Sambo read an email he had written to Paul Rika, to which he had never replied. Mike personally read it to the house to justify his reasons for not honoring the two preaching engagements. In response to this, after the meeting, Paul Rika later said, "Who is Mike to command me to go and read my email?” Paul Rika then compared himself to brother William Kumuyi, the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church. He asked, “Can a state overseer [in Deeper Life] command pastor Kumuyi to go and read his mail?”

Moreover, Paul has repeatedly stated that he is a righteous man and “Who is Mike?” He insists, "You cannot compare me with Mike." He also boasts, "I was a national overseer in Deeper Life." At various times he keeps saying that he is the main person within HOREMOW and not Mike, and he does not want people to see Mike but himself in this ministry. He has said, “Michael is just a small boy and was just two or three years old when the Lord called me into ministry. Are you comparing me with Mike?" And, "Mike does not know anything. I wrote that book. It's not Mike that is the leader." He has also said, "You mention Mike's name along with mine?”

Such statements are clearly prideful, because even if Mike actually were a small boy, we are not to look down upon one of these little ones, since their angels continually see our heavenly Father’s face (Mt 18:10). However, Mike is not a small boy, but a 36-year old married brother in Christ with two children, and is a statutory board member of HOREMOW. As the apostle Paul said, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” (Phil 2:3). We must prefer one another in love (Rom 12:10).

Scripture says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” (Prov 8:13, NIV).

Lastly, Paul Rika in a video recently said Mike's revelation is already old, but his wife's revelation is new every day and people are looking for new things. That is why he abandons Mike and goes about with Linda his wife, because she combines prophecy with revelation. His boastful, divisive statement reveals jealousy and strife, as well as his emphasis on revelations and prophecies, especially those of Linda.

The apostle Paul called it fleshly when he wrote: "For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth." (1Co 3:3-7)

"So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you..." (1Co 3:21)

"Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another." (1 Cor 4:6, Berean Study Bible). We must not take pride in one man over another, so it is not right to take pride in Linda Rika or Paul Rika over Mike Sambo.

Appeasing an Angry God
One of the things Paul Rika said in his opening remarks at Mike Sambo’s hearing was, “I saw that the case was evil. God is angry. We must do something to appease the anger of God.” He said this in the context of giving the background of Mike’s case, how Mike had failed to show up at the speaking engagements to which he had been invited, and how he believed that Mike’s “case was evil.” So clearly he meant that God is angry about what Mike had done and we must do something to appease God’s anger about that. When I heard that, I thought it sounded strange.

Then sometime afterward, my son was reading to me from a biography on the life of Samuel Morris. This was a boy from Liberia, Africa, who traveled to the United States. He recalled a witch doctor that once said that the gods are angry and we must do something to appease them. He called for the parents to sacrifice their children to appease the gods. When my son read that, I was reminded of what Paul Rika had said, and I realized that the source of that statement was not the Lord. Paul’s statement was similar to what a witch doctor would say, rather than something a Christian pastor would say.

The apostle Paul said, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1, NIV). This teaches us that we have peace with God through faith in our Lord Jesus.

Secondly, the apostle Paul said, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8:1, NIV).

Thirdly, the apostle said, “Then He adds: ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.’ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” (Heb 10:17-18, NIV).

Fourthly, the apostle John said, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 Joh 2:1-2, NIV). This teaches that we have an advocate with the Father, if we sin, and He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. According to the NET Bible study notes on this verse, “The Greek word (hilasmos) behind the phrase ‘atoning sacrifice’ conveys both the idea of ‘turning aside divine wrath’ and the idea of ‘cleansing from sin.’” Therefore, the sacrifice that Christ made once for all has already turned aside God’s wrath, and there is nothing more we must do to turn it away. Our hope and faith are relying upon that one sacrifice alone, not upon “something we must do” to appease God’s anger, as Paul Rika says.

The final outcome of the hearing was that Paul Rika decided to discipline Mike Sambo indefinitely, forbidding him from conducting ministry, and ordering him to attend all meetings. Therefore, this is obviously what he felt must be done to appease God’s anger, in spite of the fact that Mike humbled himself and apologized on his knees. Scripture does not support Paul’s actions, which are based on his erroneous belief.

Witnesses
I have been in contact with witnesses inside HOREMOW, who wanted their names withheld. Two of them are seasoned pastors in Nigeria, and one of them gave me permission to publish the following statement.

He states, “My first contact with HOREMOW was from Brother Michael Thomas Sambo's book. I personally met Pastor Paul Rika when I invited him to my church in 2013 for my annual December Camp meeting. He later made me to serve as a Zonal Coordinator over nine states, which work I did for about two years. Concerning the crisis in the young group, it’s unfortunate. It is a character problem aggravated by the random collation of false prophecies in place of God's word. I talked directly with Pastor Paul Rika on this issue [the collection of prophecies], but he seemed not to see it as a major assault from Satan. I was one of the last two persons hand-picked to reconcile Brother Sambo and Pastor Rika, but all that failed. The whole mess today in this movement by my understanding resulted from greed.”

This pastor believes the revelation that God gave to brother Mike, and recently had Mike as a guest speaker at his church's retreat. When I asked him to give me his feedback on my first article about HOREMOW, and this present one, and to confirm whether these things are true, he responded, "I've read your materials. They are the very analysis I've made. Thanks very much."

Furthermore, he confirmed to me something that another source within HOREMOW had advised me, which is that nearly everybody who was somebody when HOREMOW began as a ministry, including Michael Sambo the visioner, have disagreed with Paul’s handling of things and left.

Response from HOREMOW

Paul Rika giving his diatribe

Since I published my first article at the end of October 2016, I have received no response from Paul Rika personally. However, his office secretary Ande recommended that I view a three-part series of videos that he has posted online, apparently in response to my first article. I did review the videos in part, and sadly they do not contain any repentance at all from Paul Rika. Instead he has responded with a nearly two-and-a-half hour diatribe justifying himself and further criticizing brother Sambo without producing any evidence to prove his false accusations.

It is the practice all over the world that the burden of proof is always on the one who alleges, so the burden still remains upon him to prove all the serious accusations he has made against brother Sambo. This should be done before an impartial group of brothers with Mike present. However, since he has no such proof, he records a meeting in which he defends himself before a few men who are still willing to believe him, and uploads it to the internet. Paul Rika stated in the video, "It's like we are in a court of justice and I am giving my statement."  At various times during his video, he calls upon certain men to stand up, apparently to prove his statements, and after they begin to say a few words that provide no proof of the accusations he has made against Mike, he tells them when to stop speaking. It is also obvious that certain remarks of his are edited out.

Although the videos are titled “Know the Truth and Be Free,” they contain lies, misleading half-truths, exaggerations, and insinuations, as well as prideful statements, such as his claim that there is no such thing as an assistant General Superintendent of a movement. He said this in his attempt to show that he alone is the singular head of HOREMOW, and he used an unbiblical title to make his point.

Those videos have shown the world his true character, which has only further helped to emphasize the points I have made in my first and second articles exposing his ungodly actions. If he does not repent and make restitution to brother Mike, those videos will haunt him for the rest of his life. He has brought the name of the Lord into disrepute. By going public with such allegations he has demonstrated for the world that some Christians are incapable of settling the least of matters between themselves, and yet he is supposed to be a leader.

Putting it All Together
In summary, I have documented that there is unforgiveness, control, pride, arrogance, and character assassination within the top leadership of HOREMOW. These are serious character issues. Not to mention a false understanding of the gospel and an erroneous belief that we must do something to those who have repented of sin, as a means of appeasing the anger of God. Paul Rika is seriously under delusion. It is a satanic and self delusion, which is one of the main causes of all these problems I have documented.

In case you did not already reach this conclusion yourself, the practices of HOREMOW resemble the mind control techniques commonly used by cults to control their members. If you would like to educate yourself about that, please see the article by Cult Watch entitled "How Cults Work."

I am not saying that everyone who is a part of HOREMOW is evil or that everyone who has had a revelation who affiliates with that movement is a fake. In fact, I believe many of the testimonies that I have heard through this ministry are genuine, such as Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, and many others that I have published on my blog Eternal Destinations. However, what I am saying is the following: This organization has grown by divine revelations. According to Scripture, that is not the foundation of the Church. Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Church (1 Cor 3:11), and His Word is Supreme. We must not only know what it says, but put it into practice (Lk 6:48-49). The Church is supposed to grow as we go and make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mt 28:19-20), who multiply disciples, not by accumulating people and churches under the banner of any movement or its leader.

Any organization that grows by revelations or by collecting people in this manner can easily be compromised by the enemy. All the devil has to do is to deceptively introduce false prophecies and revelations through some trusted people who have been deemed genuine. And when everything is heavily controlled by one man or one couple, then again it is very easy for the devil to compromise it. All he has to do is compromise that one man or couple, and everyone who follows them will become ensnared in his trap. He can then do a lot of damage this way, using the leadership and the organization to kill, steal, destroy, and enslave people.

"Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, 'The Lord knows those who are His,' and, 'Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.'" (2Ti 2:19).

I think there are many sincere people within HOREMOW that love the Lord Jesus, desire to please Him, and seek to live holy lives. And I believe they need to be warned about what is happening at the top of this organization, so they can beware and protect themselves as well as their families from the enemy's schemes before they get seriously hurt. I sincerely hope you will do just that as a result of this article. I also ask that you please pray for Paul and Linda Rika to realize what they have done wrong and repent. This article is not meant to condemn them or anyone. May God's mercy, grace, and peace abide with all who love the Lord with an undying love.

Epilogue
I received a comment to this article on 29 August 2019 from a reader who stated that he was presently attending a HOREMOW Ministers' Conference, where Paul Rika presented revelations proclaiming himself as the General Overseer of all churches in the world. This occurred after he declared the previous day that HOREMOW is superior to all churches in the world.

Just a few days later on 10 September 2019, I also received a comment from one of my readers stating that just the previous day a video titled God's Choice of Pastor Paul Rika was posted by Holiness Revival Movement where Linda Rika stated her latest revelation. She referred to her husband Paul Rika as the "Messiah" of our generation!

We have listened to that video, which is mostly incomprehensible, and noticed that it has been heavily edited with many cuts and splices, which sometimes occur in mid-sentence, apparently to go back and alter what she said during the first take. However, we confirmed that she does in fact make such a false claim about Paul Rika near the end of the video during the last two minutes or so (29:17-29:56). She claims she was shown that a certain group of white people in an unknown country were shown Paul Rika in a revelation during their daily prayers. She claims, "These white people, they are waiting for this messiah. Because God told them, 'I’m going to send the messiah for your generation, that if you listen to him, and anybody that follows him is the one I’m going to carry you, and I will be protecting you people.' So they have been praying that God send [this messiah] -- and God has told them that, 'I have sent the person.' "

Let me remind you of the warning that our Lord Jesus gave us two thousand years ago about the last days before His return. Jesus said, "At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time." (Mat 24:23-25, NIV).

Moreover, in this video Linda claims God told her, "Anybody that I send to this [HOREMOW] movement must submit to my son Pastor Paul Rika." She claims that people will be following him and he will "overshadow this generation." She even said that satan has deleted the Bible, that there is no true Bible any more, and that the Bible which people are reading has blinded their eyes (9:29-10:07). Then she claimed satan told her that Paul Rika is cleaning up the Bible and bringing the true Bible to mankind. The last time I checked, the Word of the Lord is still flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times (Ps 12:6; 18:30; 19:7). Therefore, beware of anyone who claims they have the only true Bible.

During the first fifteen minutes of the video, she also makes critical statements about other African brothers who have received revelations from the Lord, claiming satan told her that they have been compromised by him, such as brothers Ezekiel Moses and Michael Sambo. Since we know satan is a liar and the father of lies (Jn 8:44), and that he is the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), why is she listening to him, accepting what he says, and proclaiming that to the world, rather than rebuking the devil? She is not prophesying for God here, but by her own admission, she is receiving a message from the devil and prophesying for him. In doing so, she is acting as the devil's prophetess, publicly casting slanderous accusations on the brethren that she has received from him.

I know Michael Sambo personally and certainly do not think he is under satan's control. He cares for the brethren who are under these delusions and considers them eternal souls who have been brainwashed to partake in these deceptions. He is alarmed that the church has been subjected to such a wine of deception and many have partaken of it, which has led many followers of HOREMOW to become confused while a large number of others have been deceived. Therefore, he is calling for us to rise up in prayer for them. He states, "I pray the Lord himself with bring salvation and deliverance to as many as desire it in Jesus' name." Amen.

Part I - HOREMOW Issues and Concerns
Part III - HOREMOW Descends to New Low

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB,except where noted otherwise. Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, where noted.

Author's Note: This article originally stated incorrectly that the Sambo's wedding was in January 2014, but that was the date of the Rika's wedding. The Sambo's were married April 21st 2012.

I also recommend reading HOREMOW Issues and Concerns, More Accusations Against Paul and Linda Rika, Judging Revelations, Visions, and Prophecies, Grieve and Lament for the Church, The Nature of False Prophets, Leadership Approach Reveals View of God, Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, A Tale of Two Kings, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, Accountable, correctable, and teachable, Loving Deeply, Filled Up to All the Fullness of God, Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins, Interview with Brother Michael Thomas Sambo, The Wardrobe of the Saints, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, How to Treat Leaders, Our Senior Pastor, The Shepherding Role of Elders, Exposing Heresy, Divorce -- Two Divine Revelations, Adultery According to Jesus, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Purge the Evil from Among You, and The Rise of Antichrists. You can access the Home page of this blog for more articles on Truth and heresy, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Nature of False Prophets

It's normal to think of false prophets as those who say things that are obviously lies. However, that would be too easy to detect them. The devil is the father of lies, and he has been lying from the beginning. He knows quite well how to deceive humanity. Therefore, we need to understand the tactics he uses to do so.

Partial Truth
He knows that a believable lie will usually have some truth to it. Let's look at some examples from Scripture.

When the devil tempted the Lord Jesus in the wilderness, he used Scripture. "And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." (Mat 4:3). This statement contains two facts that Jesus knew were true -- that He was the Son of God and that He had the power to turn the stones into bread by a mere command. However, the way the devil said those two facts were in such a way that cast doubt over them and tried to coerce the Lord into proving they were true.

After Jesus overcame that temptation by the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, reminding the devil of what is written in Scripture, the devil tempted Him again with another half truth by quoting from the Bible. He said, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning you'; and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" (Mat 4:6). Here the devil quoted from Psalm 91, but he intentionally used it to mean something it did not actually mean. Jesus once again retorted with the Word of God, telling the devil what else is written in Scripture, which exposed the devil's lie.

In the third temptation, the devil again used partial truth. "Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.'" (Mat 4:8-9). While it is true that the devil is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), He is not God, Who alone is worthy of our worship. Therefore, Jesus responded again by quoting aloud what is written in Scripture that you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.

These are the types of subtle lies the devil uses to trick people. He knows the Bible better than most Christians and he knows how to use it against them. Someone once said, "The Bible is like an old fiddle. You can use it to play any tune you want to play." Just as anyone can pick up an old fiddle and play only the notes they want to play to produce the tune they want to produce, so anyone can pick up the Bible and preach only the verses they want to preach in such a way they brings forth the message they want to convey. They can use the Scriptures to make it sound like the Bible teaches whatever they wish.

This is why it's so important for the saints to know the Word very well. We need to read the Bible daily and meditate on it. We must pray and learn to know the voice of the Good Shepherd, so that we will not listen to a stranger.

It may surprise you to know some of the things that false prophets and teachers could say. They can say things that sound very pious, making it seem like they hate evil. For example, the Pharisees said of Jesus, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons." (Mat 12:24). Such a statement sounds true, because it seems concerned with exposing the devil. It is believable because we naturally assume that only those who hate the devil would expose someone operating by his power.

They also spoke as if they were concerned with upholding God's law. They said to Him, "Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath." (Mat 12:2). While their statement seems righteous on the surface, it is not true. The devil's messengers still say things like this today that sound very righteous and holy. They may condemn a certain practice as evil and say that if you do it you will go to hell. They may even use Scripture to say so. For example, they could teach that if you eat certain foods you will not make it to heaven, based on the dietary laws of the Mosaic covenant. Or they could teach that anyone who does not celebrate the Lord's day on Saturday is going to hell. They may even seem to be very concerned about sound doctrine and speak against other teachings that they deem to be heresies.

While they appear to uphold righteousness and condemn sin, as though they are trying to keep you from going to hell, their message is not true because it is not based on the Scripture. They may be able to quote passages to support their doctrine, but they omit other passages that would clearly contradict what they teach.

The Traditions of Men
One way the enemy teaches such things is through the traditions or precepts of men. The Jews had many such precepts and traditions, which were communicated orally and later written down in the form of the Midrash and the Mishnah, which was a part of their Talmud. While these contained men's interpretations of the Law, essentially these were like a fence around the Scriptures that were even more strict than the commandments of God. These man-made precepts and traditions were taught as doctrines. If one kept these precepts and traditions of men, it would seem they would never come close to violating God's commandments. It appears righteous and holy. However, the Lord taught that it was just the opposite.

And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. "For Moses said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER'; and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH'; but you say, 'If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),' you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that." (Mar 7:6-13)

According to Jesus, in order for people to keep the man-made precepts and traditions, they had to violate the commandment of God. The same thing happens today. These false messengers teach their man-made precepts and traditions as doctrines, and they support them with Scripture, but in order to obey their teachings, men must violate God's commandments. These doctrines may appear as if they uphold holiness and righteousness, and by following them you will surely reach heaven. They may warn that if you don't follow what they teach, you will go to hell, and if you do follow their teaching, you will make it to heaven. But they are misleading people.

The Greatest Commandments
If in our effort to reach heaven and avoid hell we violate the commandments of God, we will still perish in the end. What counts is keeping God's commandments. And the Lord taught us what the two most important commandments are.

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.' "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mar 12:28-31)

Notice He said there is no other commandment greater than these. While there is the command to be holy (Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 1:15,16), that is not the greatest commandment. And while the Bible says we are saved by grace through faith, not by works (Eph 2:8), that is not the greatest commandment. And while the Bible says that all who believe in Jesus will be saved (Joh 3:16), that is not the greatest commandment. The greatest commandments are love. If I have everything else that seems to signify a godly life, such as giving all my possessions to the poor, knowledge of God and His Word, the gifts of prophecy and speaking in tongues, and even giving my body to be burned, but have not love, I am nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3).

The problem with man-made precepts and traditions is they cause us to break these greatest commandments in some way. That's why it is so important to follow the Word of God, obey His commandments, and not follow after the precepts and traditions of men, no matter how holy and righteous they may seem to be.

High standards don't give you any extra credit with God. Such thinking is a “works” mentality. People don’t realize the danger. If you are seeking extra credit through the traditions of men, you will end up breaking the commandments of God. If a person doesn’t realize this, then they can become a victim. Consider the Good Samaritan; then consider the priest who walked by the hurt man because he had “more important matters.” Love is most important. We can fail at this in trying to be holy. The priest and Levite could represent any Christian today. They had high standards and were very busy trying to fulfill them, but in doing so they neglected the need of the hurt man.

Remember what the Lord said about the final judgment when He separates the wicked and the righteous like a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats. The goats will say, "When did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels..." (Mat 25:38-41)

The traditions of men may make you to feel very pious. But they go beyond what is written. Don’t put anything above God’s Word. You can’t be more holy than God. Scripture says, “Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself? (Ecclesiastes 7:16) There are already enough commandments to obey. And don’t forget the two greatest ones! Keeping His commandments is what counts (1 Cor 7:19). They are high and holy as it is. If you have not love, you are nothing! You have failed. You have no extra credit. If you are upholding a standard that lacks love, you will not reach heaven. One of the signs of the last days is that the love of most will grow cold (Mt 24:12), so let's beware of that. Evaluate yourself, even if you are seeking to live most holy. The most important thing is to obey God’s commandments, not the traditions of men.

Unwitting Agents of the Devil
Remember, too, that the messengers of the devil may be used by him knowingly or unknowingly. Not all false prophets and messengers even realize what they are doing. Since they themselves are deceived, they may not even realize it. Usually people who are deceived are in denial. If they knew they were deceived, they would probably forsake the lies in which they have believed and embrace the truth. But they don't know it and they continue on being used unwittingly as an agent of the devil. They may even be very likeable and sincere. That's why we must test their fruit, in order to see whether it is good or bad. If it is bad fruit, then they cannot be a good tree. You will know them by their fruits. The basic fruit test is widely overlooked and underutilized. But that is what the Lord commanded us to do, so we must do it and then avoid the ones we identify as bad trees, no matter how much we like them. For more on this, please see Testing the Spirits of False Prophets.

They May Say, "Lord, Lord"
Just because a preacher or teacher claims to be a Christian and calls Jesus, "Lord" does not mean they are genuine. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." (Mat 7:21). Notice how it always comes back to whether you DO the will of God. That determines whether or not you will enter heaven.

They May Come in Jesus' Name as Anointed Ones 
And Jesus said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many." (Mat 24:4-5). While this speaks of false Christs, who claim to be Christ or a "little Christ," let us not forget that "Christ" means anointed. So this infers that there are many who come in Jesus' name, claiming to be anointed, and mislead many. Don't be fooled just because they come in the name of Jesus or claim to be anointed of God.

They Prophesy Lies in the Lord's Name
As the term implies, false prophets prophesy falsehoods. "Then the Lord said to me, 'The prophets are prophesying lies in My name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.'" (Jer 14:14, NIV).

They Arise from Among You
Notice that in this last passage from Jeremiah, the Lord refers to them simply as "prophets," rather than false prophets. These may have at one time been valid prophets before they became compromised and began uttering lies. They may have once been a true prophet or someone who once had a genuine revelation from the Lord. In fact, people who are used by God mightily are at greater risk of becoming targets of the enemy, because so many people believe and follow them. If the enemy can get them to compromise and be one of his agents without people realizing it, then he will not only capture that one person's soul to hell, but the masses who follow them. Beware of this!

Remember Paul's warning to the Ephesians: "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them." (Act 20:29-30). Therefore, it is from among your own selves that men will arise.

They are Popular
Not only may they arise from within the Church itself, but they may be quite popular. In fact, when everyone speaks well of a person, that is a warning indicator that they are not of God, since that is how the false prophets were treated. Jesus warned, "Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets." (Lk 6:26, NIV). On the other hand, the true prophets are usually persecuted (Mt 5:11-12; Ac 7:52a). Persecuted or Popular?

They are Common
Another misconception about false prophets is that they are rare. You might not suspect many people of being false prophets, based on your belief that they are not very common. However, Jesus said, "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many." (Mat 24:11). This is one of the major signs of the end times, and we are in those last days when false prophets abound. There are more of them than you may think, and many of the preachers that you thought were legitimate are actually false teachers.

Criticizing Pharisee-type Behavior
False messengers may even openly criticize any behavior that seems to them like the Pharisees. In their efforts to uphold their false teachings or prophecies, they may actually accuse others (such as their opponents) of acting like the Pharisees. It's amazing but true that they do so!

Masquerading as Servants of Righteousness
Another thing to beware of is that they may masquerade as servants of righteousness. Just because someone preaches righteousness and holiness does not mean they are a genuine man of God. Paul said, "For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds." (2 Cor 11:14b-15)

Signs and Wonders
Finally, I will mention one last important point about false messengers, which is that they may operate in signs and wonders. The Lord said, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect." (Mat 24:24). The devil knows that most people are more impressed with power than with godly character or sound doctrine. He also knows that most people will pay more attention to signs and wonders a preacher performs than to the preacher's message to see if it is sound doctrine according to Scripture. He also knows that most people don't read their Bibles well enough to know the difference anyway. Therefore, don't follow signs and wonders, or be fooled by them, no matter how great they are.

Putting it All Together
The Lord warned us in His Word to watch out for false prophets and teachers, so that we would not be deceived. They may use partial truth in what they teach, preach, or prophesy. They prophesy lies in the Lord's name. They may know the Bible very well. They may teach man-made precepts and traditions as doctrines, which seem to uphold a very high standard of holiness and righteousness. Or they may preach the false message of eternal security that because of God's grace, nothing you can ever do as a believer can ever affect your salvation. They ultimately cause you to disobey God's commandments, even though you might not be aware, because they probably won't do so explicitly or directly.

False preachers may say this or that is of the devil or is sin, when in fact it may be from God and may not be sin at all. They may masquerade as servants of righteousness. They may criticize behavior that is like the Pharisees or accuse those who oppose them of being either like the Pharisees or of the devil. They will have bad fruit in their lives, by which you may identify them. They and their followers may lack love or have what Scripture calls cold love. They may come in Jesus' name, call Him "Lord," claim to be anointed, or perform signs and wonders that make it seem as though God is using them mightily. They may seem sincere and be an unwitting agent of the devil, not even realizing they are deceived and deceiving others. They may arise from your midst, and at one time in the past been used to speak true prophecies or revelations. They may be popular and well-spoken of. They are very common, so don't let anyone deceive you. Test their fruit and follow what God has commanded us in the Scriptures, the most important of which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. 

Author's Note: I recommend you read the following articles: Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, Exposing Heresy, Judging Revelations, Visions, and Prophecies, Restored Truth, The False Gospel of Eternal Security, Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel?, Pagan Symbols of the Popes, Pope Frances Supports Homosexuality, Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshipping Idols, Persecuted or Popular?, Leadership Approach Reveals View of God, and The Rise of Antichrists. I also recommend my daughter's poem, The Dazzling Wine of Deception. You can find more articles exposing the heresy on the Home page of this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org