Kanye West Issues and Concerns

Kanye West (AP photo)

I would like to share some issues and concerns regarding Kanye West, who is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer.

Earlier this year he announced to a fellow rapper that he was now born again after initially turning to God in 2016, when he was hospitalized and ultimately diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In September 2019,  he announced that from now on, spirituality would be his only true theme, and that he would no longer be producing secular music. In October 2019 he announced that he had been saved. Meanwhile, he had begun holding star-studded events known as the "Sunday Service" following the release of his album called Jesus is King. He has even applied for a trademark on the name "Sunday Service". Kanye seems to be the leader of these exclusive events that typically have A-list celebrities in attendance, revolve around music, and sometimes include informal prayer.

Recording spiritual music is nothing new for him. His 2013 album Yeezus included the song “I Am a God." In case you don't see what's wrong with that song title, I need to let you know that Kanye is not a God and we are not gods. (For more on this, please see my article, Are We Really Little Gods?) 

Kanye West (Rolling Stones photo)

And the title of that album was derived from combining Kanye's nickname "Ye" with the variant spelling of "Jezus" to come up with the name Yeezus. In other words, he was saying, "I am a God," and calling himself Yeezus. During that Yeezus tour, he even had a Jesus impersonator come on stage. This was after he had already appeared in 2006 on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine wearing a crown of thorns. That background information is important, since he has a history of associating himself with God or Jesus. While we could simply write those things off as a part of his sinful, pre-Christian past, we do need to factor them into our consideration of what he is currently doing, which has some of the same self-aggrandizing elements to it.

Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) News had headlines about Kanye on a daily or near daily basis in October and November 2019. If you do a search on "Kanye West" on that site, you will find 75 results, many of which appear to be articles they have written about him. While I didn't read the articles (except for a couple of them), the headlines (in my opinion) often made him appear to be the one who would save this generation with his Sunday Services; and based on the headlines, at times it seemed as if some people might have thought that he could single-handedly reach the whole world for Christ. The Christian media need to be careful not to put him up on a pedestal, as if he is the savior of the world or the Messiah of this generation. It's a mistake to put anyone up on a pedestal, because it will lead ultimately to their destruction, if they allow you to do it.

According to the news reports. thousands of people were flocking to his Sunday Service performance, and thousands of people even reportedly got saved at one of those shows. There's nothing wrong with people getting saved, as long as they truly did get saved through repentance and faith in Christ. And Kanye does speak about a lot of things that are biblical like the love and fear of God, grace, repentance, and being set free by Jesus Christ. He also says that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be granted eternal life. He also says that the only superstar is Jesus. That's all well and good.

However, there are numerous red flags that you need to be aware of, and sadly none of them were raised by CBN News. In November 2019 he appeared on stage with prosperity preacher and mega church pastor Joel Osteen for an interview in front of the  Lakewood Church congregation. During that interview, Kanye said that the Lord is now going to use the cockiness and arrogance, for which his fans have always known him. Since cockiness and arrogance are sins, God cannot and will not use those sins for His glory. Kanye also referred to himself as "the greatest artist that God ever created." That would be pride, which is also a sin in God's sight.

When a man seated in the crowd off-stage was speaking while Kanye was speaking, he stopped and publicly asked the man to stop speaking, because Kanye said that when he is in certain "streams of consciousness," he must not be distracted, in order to allow God to speak through him. He then asked that every single person in the church auditorium, which holds over 16,000 people, be completely silent while he spoke. In my thinking, the term "streams of consciousness" is basically New Age terminology, although it does have other usages, so Kanye's use of it could indicate some mixture there.

In his closing prayer, Kanye also referred to Joel Osteen as "one of the strongest voices in the Christian community," who "has led hundreds of thousands of people to Christ." He referred to Osteen's words and mission as being anointed. If you have listened at all to Osteen, you will know that he preaches a Christianity-light, prosperity gospel message. He keeps it positive and doesn't want to offend anyone or appear to be judging them by preaching against sin. This is contrary to the Lord Jesus and His apostles who definitely preached against sin and offended plenty of people along the way.

Kanye told Osteen that when he was at UCLA hospital for a mental breakdown, he was sitting there drawing a picture of a church, and writing "to start a church," which apparently meant that he felt God had called him to start a church. So while some may not be sure if "Sunday Service" is a church or not, we at least know that Kanye thinks he is supposed to start one.

The problem is that if he is in fact a new believer, the Scripture clearly warns against such a person being an overseer of a church. Paul the apostle warned "He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil." (1 Tim 3:6, NIV).

The Sunday Service choir wears a uniform from West’s Yeezy clothing line, which seems to be a direct form of advertising. His fans can even purchase “church clothes” from his website, including $50 socks that say “Jesus Walks,” and $225 hoodies that say “Holy Spirit.” Our Lord taught against this sort of merchandising in the Church, as I have written in my article The Sale of Christian Music and Art -- A Robbers' Den?

Since Kanye himself has battled with opioid addiction, he speaks about addictions. He said, "Those addictions are on us even when you are saved and fully delivered. We are all human and fall short of the glory. Christians are not going to be Christ - we are going to follow Christ and be Christ-like and repent for our sins. It's that constant repentance. People who don't accept the Bible don't want to accept that they’re wrong.”

I agree with most of what he said, except the part that addictions remain on us as disciples of Christ, even when we are saved and fully delivered. That is incorrect, and there is no biblical basis for it. Once a person is delivered, they are truly set free.

As Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free....So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (Jn 8:31b-32,36, NIV).

Another concern I have is that he can be seen during his Sunday Service show singing and dancing with his hand over his crotch as rappers typically do. This is certainly immodest and improper for God's holy people, and some might say it is suggestive or even obscene. (See Instagram video).

According to his wife Kim Kardashian, the Sunday Service is open to all faiths and does not include preaching. However, that is more like ecumenism or New Age religion than Christianity. The Christian faith is exclusive. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes to the Father, except through Me." (Jn 14:6).

It has also been reported in September 2019 that those who attend his Sunday Service have to sign an NDA, which is Non-Disclosure Agreement saying they won't disclose what happened at the event. That seems quite strange -- even cult-like -- and doesn't have any biblical basis at all.

Kanye West and Family dressed as fly and larvae

Oddly enough, Kanye appeared with his wife on Halloween in October 2019 dressed in a demonic Beelzebub costume, as reported in an article by "Now the End Begins" called Lord Of The Flies: Kanye West And Kim Kardashian Dress As Fly Larvae And Worms In Demonic Beelzebub Family Portrait Session On Saturday. He was a giant fly, while she and the children were larvae. Was he supposed to be Beelzebub? For those who don't know, Beelzebub, translated literally as "lord of the flies," is another name for the devil, similar to satan.

Regarding the music he produces and performs, let me just say this. There are many forms of popular, worldly music, including rap, rock, and reggae, that are commonly used by people to communicate Christian messages. However, God does not condone worldliness and He does not need worldly music to accomplish His purposes on earth. (For more on this, please see my article Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Five Divine Revelations).

Finally, as pointed out by "Now the End Begins," Kanye's Sunday Service performances feature the all-seeing eye of Horus, which is clearly a New Age occult symbol (See here).

Kanye Headlines the Awaken 2020 Event

I should also mention that Kanye West was chosen to headline the Awaken 2020 event on January 18, 2020 at Sun Devil Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. Of all the places in America that they could have chose for the event, they chose Sun Devil Stadium. They also chose red as their predominant theme color on their website, logo, and promotional videos.

The self -proclaimed purpose of the event was to "open the womb for the third Great Awakening in America." Yet the two different promotional videos on the event's site (see here) and on Facebook (see here) had many antichrist, immodest, impure, and seductive images that have no place among God's holy people. The apostle Paul wrote:

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people." (Eph 5:3)

Suffice it to say that this event had many New Age and antichrist images and words associated with it. The fact that Kanye was the featured performer at this event is one more piece of evidence that shows his New Age and antichrist connections.

One last thing about the event that was very strange was that Lou Engle was originally listed as one of the speakers for the event, and he is prominently featured in both of their promotional videos linked above. Lou Engle is connected with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), and while he loves homosexuals, he has spoken out against homosexuality as a sin. The event organizer, David Herzog, issued a press statement prior to the event, stating that Engle would not be an event speaker, nor was he affiliated with the event in any way. Herzog stated:

"...we want to make it specifically clear that: Lou Engle is not affiliated with, nor is he an organizer or partner of or a speaker at Awaken 2020...If any of our past potential or current event participants, speakers, and collaborators were affiliated with any such harmful platforms in any way or at any time, we do not support any view points as such. Awaken 2020 is a new opportunity for the Christian community to reset and align its message with respect for the people, especially the youth who are experiencing a time of revival and renewal in the wake of the new works of Kanye West and The Sunday Service Collective." (emphasis added). The focus on Kanye as opposed to Lou Engle is glaringly obvious.

Herzog further stated that he "would like to emphasize that our message is of Love and Unity." Although this event was being billed as a revival and a spiritual awakening, he didn't say anything about repentance, which is central to any revival.

Epilogue

In April 2024, five years after I wrote this article, I learned that Kanye is "dead set" on starting his own pornography website and studio. He appears to have confirmed reports that he is launching an adult entertainment studio, his new venture known as "Yeezy Porn." He also said during an interview that he is God and he is the Kingdom.  His words were: "We are the kingdom and I'm the head of the Kingdom. I am God! No one can suggest sh** to me, period! You can't tell my daughter to say sh** to me about Jesus. I'm just tell you some real simple sh**: God runs the world; I am God; I run the world. Make that very clear." Obviously his mind is completely warped, indicating that he has been given over to a reprobate mind. As Paul wrote to Timothy, "They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected." (2 Tim 3:8).

For more on this, and to hear Kanye say this out of his own foul mouth, see the following short video, and beware that it contains foul language.

Closing Words
Let's take a step back and prayerfully consider the issues and concerns that I have raised here, remembering the words of our Lord that we must be on guard against false prophets who come as wolves in sheep's clothing. He said:

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Mat 7:15-23)

In these last and evil days, when false prophets abound, let's not be deceived by anyone, no matter how attractive, talented, famous, or sincere they may seem, and no matter how well they can talk the talk. Let's examine their fruit, because by their fruit we will recognize them. In my opinion, Kanye does not pass the simple fruit test of Scripture, but that is something that each person must personally evaluate, and a decision they must make on their own.

Footnotes:
'The Only Superstar Is Jesus': Kanye West Speaks to Joel Osteen About Faith and Family

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV,  copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Images may be subject to copyright and are used per the Fair Use Act for commentary and education purposes only.

Author's note:  I also recommend reading Kanye West Claims to Be God, Awaken 2020 Event Exposed, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Separated from the World, Avoiding Worldly Worship, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music - Five Divine Revelations, New Age-New World Order, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, Popularity of the Gospel, What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel?, The Sale of Christian Music and Art -- A Robbers' Den?, and Pope Establishes One World Religion. I also recommend my daughter's poem, The Dazzling Wine of Deception. 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

Andy Stanley's Disconnect from the Old Testament

Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point

Dr. Charles Stanley's son Andy is the pastor of perhaps the second or third largest church in America. As a mega church pastor in Atlanta, he has a great deal of influence. Yet he has been teaching people incorrectly that they should "unhitch" from the Old Testament. Here are some of his heretical statements:

Unhitched
“(First Century) Church leaders unhitched the church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures. Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.”

“When the Church launched, the foundation of the faith of the early Christians was not a book (they didn’t have one), it wasn’t the Bible (there wasn’t one), and it wasn’t the Old Testament – what they called the Law and the Prophets – because that didn’t tell the story of Jesus. The foundation of the early church was an event – the resurrection.”

“If you were raised on a version of Christianity that relied on the Bible as the foundation of faith, a version that was eventually dismantled by academia or the realities of life, maybe it’s time for you to change your mind about Jesus. Maybe it’s time for you to consider the version of Christianity that relies on the event of the resurrection of Jesus as its foundation. If you gave up your faith because of something about or in the Bible, maybe you gave up unnecessarily. His message for them is simple: 'Start with Jesus! He came to introduce something totally new.'”

“What Jesus meant when He said He had not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17) was that He came to 'replace it.'" Stanley's interpretation of that verse is: “I am in fact replacing. I’m not going to change what you’ve always been taught. I’m going to challenge you to abandon what you have been taught.”

“The Law and the Prophets, the old covenant, had an expiration date.”

The Gospel of Jesus “is completely detached … from everything that came before."

Every one of these statements made by Stanley is refuted by Scripture. Jesus, who is the Word of God (Joh 1:1,14), quoted the Hebrew Scriptures extensively during His ministry; in fact He quoted from a total of twenty-four different books of the Hebrew Bible, and He is the foundation of the Church. "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 3:11, NIV). The only Scriptures they initially had in the first-century Church were the Hebrew Scriptures. And as the apostles and their companions wrote the Gospels, Acts, and the epistles, they quoted extensively from those Scriptures. In fact, they quoted from all but five books of the Hebrew Bible (for a full list of all Old Testament Scriptures cited in the New Testament, see here).

When the apostle Paul preached to the Bereans, they searched the Hebrew Scriptures to verify that everything he said was true. "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Ac 17:11, NIV). This practice of the Bereans was considered noble, since they checked to see if everything the apostle preached agreed with the Hebrew Scriptures, especially the ones he was quoting. It was Paul who wrote that God's household is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." (Eph 2:20, NIV). Let me quote to you from three different men commenting on this passage.

Matthew Henry stated: "In Ephesian 2:20 the church is compared to a building. The apostles and prophets are the foundation of that building. They may be so called in a secondary sense, Christ himself being the primary foundation; but we are rather to understand it of the doctrine delivered by the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New. It follows, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone."

John Wesley stated: "As the foundation sustains the building, so the word of God, declared by the apostles and prophets, sustains the faith of all believers. God laid the foundation by them; but Christ himself is the chief corner - stone of the foundation."

Albert Barnes stated that when the apostle Paul wrote "...And prophets..." in Ephesians 2:20, he was referring to "The prophets of the Old Testament, using the word, probably, to denote the Old Testament in general. That is, the doctrines of divine revelation, whether communicated by prophets or apostles, were laid at the foundation of the Christian church."

Therefore, when Stanley says that "the foundation of the faith of the early Christians...wasn’t the Bible...and it wasn’t the Old Testament...the Law and the Prophets," he is contradicting the Word of God itself. They most certainly had the Scriptures in the first century. There can be no doubt that the apostles of the New Covenant and prophets of the Old Covenant are the foundation of the Church.

Unleashed
Stanley’s new book is called, “Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World." In it he writes: “Participants in the new covenant (that’s Christians) are not required to obey any of the commandments found in the first part of their Bibles. Participants in the new covenant are expected to obey the single command Jesus issued as part of his new covenant: as I have loved you, so you must love one another." Moreover, in the final part of a 2018 sermon series, Stanley explained that while he believes that the Old Testament is "divinely inspired," it should not be "the go-to source regarding any behavior in the Church."

However, contrary to what Andy teaches, Scriptures like "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex 20:2) are still valid and applicable to us today as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Obedience to God's commandments is clearly taught throughout the New Testament by Christ and His apostles (Mt 5:17-20; Lk 8:21; Jn 14:15-31; 1 Cor 7:19; 1 Jn 3:4). To deny that is to deny the very foundation upon which the Church is built. Yet that is precisely what Stanley is doing. He is not preaching the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus and His apostles preached. He is preaching another gospel -- a replacement theology.

God changes not (Mal 3:6). Jesus is God, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). He doesn't need to repeat Himself in order for us to know that what He has said is true. What was evil in the days of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Moses, Saul, David, Solomon, Ahab, Elijah, and the prophets is still evil today. What was pleasing to God then is pleasing to Him now, although we are under a New Covenant and are not bound by the specific terms and regulations of the Mosaic Covenant.

The Bible is not just "a collection of ancient documents," as Andy calls them. The sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired Word of God. "ALL Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Ti 3:16). We must declare the whole counsel of God (Ac 20:27), not only the things that Jesus reiterated in the Gospels. Andy says that nothing in the Old Testament should have any bearing on the behavior of a Christian, but since it is all the inspired Word of God useful for training us so we might be thoroughly equipped for every good work, then obviously ALL Scripture including the Old Testament has relevance to our behavior.

Rather than rewrite all my previous articles about the importance and significance of obedience to God's commandments, including those found in the Law and the Prophets, I would like to provide links to those here for you to read. They provide ample proof from Scripture that Stanley is teaching heresy. If you really care about this and want to get to the truth of the matter that is found in God's Word, then I recommend taking the time to read all of these articles, in order to get the full and balanced message that I am teaching as found in the Bible. I challenge you to do as the Bereans did with the apostle's teaching and search the Scriptures to see if these things are really so.

Is Obedience Optional? The Law of Christ  The Law Fulfilled in Us The Law Established Through Faith The Cost of Discipleship Faith Works! Deleted Scriptures in the Bible? Did Jesus Nail the Law to the Cross? The Obedience of Faith Righteousness by Faith not Law Listen to Jesus, Who Upholds Moses and the Prophets  The Spirit's Law of Life

The Law of Love in the New Testament Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God Wesley and Henry on the Gospel Law Righteous Deeds and White Robes Doing What is Right Partaking of the Divine Nature Walking in the Perfect Will of God Obedience by the Spirit The Law is Good if Used Lawfully What Then Must We Observe? Remember the Eternal Law of God The Flesh vs. the Spirit

The Bible De-emphasized 
Andy Stanley says that if he were an evangelical Pope, who had the authority to issue a decree that all evangelical Christians must obey, he "would ask preachers and pastors and student pastors in their communications to take the spotlight off the Bible." Apparently he undervalues the Word of God, since he would use his papal authority to de-emphasize it. This man-made rule of his essentially nullifies the Word of God (Mk 7:13), which instructs the Lord's messengers to preach the Word (2 Tim 4:2). Through His inspired apostle, the Holy Spirit clearly charged Timothy -- and effectively all men of God -- to devote ourselves to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching (1 Tim 4:13). Jesus also warned us, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Lk 9:26).

In addition, Andy disparages expository preaching through the Scriptures one verse at a time. He says, "Guys that preach verse-by-verse through books of the Bible -- that is just cheating. It's cheating because that would be easy. First of all, that isn't how you grow people." This preposterous statement of his proves that the enemy hates expository preaching from the Bible, explaining it one verse at a time. Andy says this doesn't grow people, perhaps because he is interested in growing the numbers of people. But while expository preaching may not draw huge crowds, it has the potential to grow individuals into disciples of Christ and eventually result in the multiplication of disciples, like what happened in the first century Church. "The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith." (Ac 6:7).

What preachers need to do is preach the Word exactly as it is written, drawing out the meaning that is already in Scripture, which is a practice called exegesis, rather than reading their own meaning into it, which is known as eisogesis. When preachers take license to practice eisogesis, they are free to twist the Scriptures, which they do to their own destruction (2 Pe 3:16). If we had more Spirit-filled, expository preaching today, we would have fewer people taking Scriptures out of context and making them say whatever they want them to say. Instead they would have to explain what the Scripture means when it is understood in its proper context, and people would receive the undiluted, unadulterated message of God's Word. Their faith would grow, since faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of God (Rom 10:17).

Open Homosexual Baptized at Northpoint

In a video posted on Youtube, an open homosexual proudly announced that he was going to be water baptized at Northpoint Church. Your can see the video at this link. Let me remind you that Scripture clearly teaches against the sin of homosexuality in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. To cite just one of them, the apostle Paul stated:

"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1Co 6:9-10)

For more a more complete discussion on this topic, see Pope Frances Supports Homosexuality.

The Fruit Test Reveals Apostasy
As I explained in my previous article, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, we are supposed to test men's fruit to determine whether or not they are false. When we do a fruit test on the North Point Community Church that Andy Stanley pastors in Atlanta, we find that there is apostasy. That church of around 38,000 people is engrossed in worldliness, rather than being separated from the world as the Scriptures teach that we should be. The following video is just one piece of evidence that reveals their worldly practices. The video is titled The Andy Stanley Show: North Point Ministries Worldly Satanic Synagogues Fully Exposed!!!. It shows, among other things, rock bands in the church singing secular rock music like Journey's song Don't Stop Believing with it's lyrics about seedy nightlife in the big city. Another example is a group on stage during a Sunday service singing, "Baby, love the way you turn me on," while several men perform a choreographed break dance. In yet another service the band is singing a medley of Michael Jackson's hit songs including Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, which has been criticized for its sexual references. Take a look at this and see for yourself:



Closing Words
Be careful whom you listen to, because if they are in error on important issues like this, then your very soul could be in danger. We live in the days when men do not put up with sound doctrine, but instead, to suit their own desires, they surround themselves with a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim 4:3). We live in the days of great apostasy in the Church, which some call the Laodicean Church age (Rev 3:14-21). These are the days of mega churches like Stanley's North Point Community Church in Atlanta, where people flock in large numbers to be entertained by the abundance of worldliness that takes place there, and to listen to another gospel (Gal 1:8-9). They prefer a pop-culture, Christianity-lite message like the ones Andy preaches, and they are itching to unhitch from our Scriptural foundations.

We the Church are not "unhitched" from the Hebrew Scriptures, the gospel is not "detached" from them, and we are not unleashed from obeying God's sacred commandments. On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it (Lk 11:28). Jesus' mother and brothers are still those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice (Lk 8:21). The Word of God is still the seed that we must receive in order to produce fruit (Lk 8:11). The Bible is still our sole rule of faith in Christ. It is still not desirable for us to neglect the Word of God (Ac 6:2). Indeed, we must still speak the Word of God with boldness (Ac 4:31), and continue to declare the whole counsel of God (Ac 20:27), because all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). Therefore, let us not be moved off of our Scriptural foundation, but let us continue holding fast the faithful Word (Tit 1:9). Beware of Andy Stanley. He is a false teacher. As I have written elsewhere, just because a church is large and prominent, that doesn't mean they are preaching the truth. The way of life is narrow and few are they who find it (Mat 7:14).

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Other Scriptures from The Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright and are used per the Fair Use Act for commentary and education purposes only.

Author's note:  I also recommend reading Andy Stanley's Unbiblical Views on Homosexuality, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Separated from the World, The Bible is the Word of God, Scripture Alone (Sola Fide), The Ways of Life, Avoiding Worldly Worship, Is Secular Music for Christians?, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music - Five Divine Revelations, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught, Ask for the Ancient Paths, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian, Exposing Heresy, and Popularity of the Gospel. I also recommend my daughter's poem, The Dazzling Wine of Deception. 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 Truth About Hillsong

Let me begin by saying that I have numerous issues and concerns with the Hillsong Church. Rather than re-write what has already been well-documented by others, I will share a few of my comments and provide links, so that you can do your own research and prayerfully reach your own conclusions.

In case you are among those who believe that we should not take a critical look at a church movement like this, I'd suggest you read my articles called Exposing Heresy and Purge the Evil from Among You. But the Bible clearly teaches us that we should judge those inside the church (1 Cor 5:12-13) and expose the fruitless deeds of darkness without having anything to do with them (Eph 5:11).

Hillsong's Occult Connections
For example, an article called Hillsong "The church of Satan!" reveals the occult connections in this church. (Please note that the author of that article did not close his quotation marks in the second paragraph, which is important, since he is clearly quoting a New Age source and not making that declaration himself). The article shows many examples of satanic and occult symbols used by Hillsong.

The following article reveals Hillsong's preference for illuminati and New Age symbolism. It's called Hillsong United Church Steeped in illuminati and New Age Symbolism.

Pastoral Indecency 
Hillsong NYC's pastor, Carl Lentz is pictured walking half naked in public with Justin Bieber in a video called Meet the 'Shirtless' Pastor Helping Justin Bieber With Spirituality. Pastors are supposed to be examples to the flock (1 Pe 5:3), but what kind of example is this?

In another video called Hillsong's 'Pastor's' wife -Esther Houston wife of Joel Houston- Sexy Images cussing EXPOSED, Laura from Last Days Ministries reveals seedy photos of Esther Houston, the wife of Hillsong's pastor Joel Houston, who is Brian Houston's son. Laura begins to show these indecent and shameful photos of Esther at 6:22 in the video. There are many of these vile images picturing Esther half naked in sensual poses, which I cannot even describe without making some people stumble. At 9:04, Laura also plays a portion of one of Esther's music videos, which is also sensual and shows her wearing a shirt with an obscenity (the F-word) written in large letters across the front. The camera focuses on her hand and buttock, as she gently strokes a metal pole back and forth and sings the words, "lookin' you over."

Scripture says: " But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." (Eph 5:3-5, NIV).

This video is not for children or men who struggle with pornography, as the material is definitely rated R! In fact, it is best for men and children not to even view the portion of the video from to 6:22 to 12:46 at all, since it could present a temptation. Joel Houston clearly does not meet the basic qualifications for an overseer given in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, since these images reveal that he is not managing his own family well. Likewise, his wife Esther is not abiding by the basic Christian dress code of decency and propriety given by the apostles in 1 Timothy 2:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:1-6. Her attire and outward adornment are by no means godly, pure, or holy, but quite the opposite. She obviously has no shame, and neither do those who recorded her on camera.

Scripture says, "They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness."

The Love of Money

Pastor Brian Houston

In one video it is reported that the annual sales for the Hill$ong record label was $100 million. We have no Scriptural basis for that kind of greed, which is merely serving money as a god. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Mt 6:24, NIV). The apostle Paul taught that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Tim 6:10, NIV), and that greed is idolatry (Col 3:5). For more on this, please see my article called The Sale of Christian Music and Art.

Furthermore, the founding pastor and his wife Brian and Bobbie Houston are living a luxury lifestyle, and he promotes the prosperity gospel in his book You Need More Money. If you don't see any problem with that, then I would encourage you to read my articles, Wisdom for Wealthy Preachers and Prosperity Teachers and What's Wrong with the Prosperity Gospel?

Brian Houston Breached Code of Conduct with Women

According to CBN News in March 2022, "The Hillsong Church has announced its founder Brian Houston breached the 'Hillsong Pastor's Code of Conduct' involving separate incidents with two women, one of whom was a staff member at the church." The global Hillsong board stated in a letter on their website that they have been dealing with two complaints against Brian made by women over the past ten years. Following this announcement, the board stated that Brian had fully resigned as global senior pastor. Brian and his wife had originally founded the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, which has become a global megachurch with 150,000 members in 30 countries. For more on this, please see CBN News article, Brian Houston Fully Resigns from Hillsong After Board Says He Breached Code of Conduct with 2 Women.

Homosexuality Allowed in the Church
According to the following article by Pulpit and Pen, Brian Houston acknowledged the ministry of a gay couple at Hillsong NYC in 2014. He said in one video interview I watched that the church will never ask someone who wants to be on the worship team if they are a homosexual. Hillsong is a sodomite-infiltrated entity, which I will cover in more detail below.

Hillsong Founder a Child Rapist

Pastor Frank Houston

Another important point to note is that the original founder of the church, Frank Houston, the father of Brian Houston, was a pedophile, which he confessed to near the end of his life. All of this was investigated by the Australian Royal Commission.  For more on this please see the article by Donald Elley called Hillsong Founder a Child Rapist.

As the author of that article reports, Brian Houston tried to cover up for his father and when he had to admit what happened, he down played the magnitude of it as if it was a single incident. The author states:

"What is still lacking from Frank’s son, Pastor Brian Houston and the Hillsong Movement, which Brian controls, is any real degree of honesty and openness about Frank Houston...Why didn’t Brian admit his father did numerous pedophile and homosexual acts, and not just one, like Brian portrayed for 14 years, until the Royal Commission exposed his lies?"

Brian also allegedly blamed one of his father's victims, who was 7 years old at the time and is now 52, for tempting his father into committing those shameful acts with him. The article states: "It is interesting to note that victim AHA, who spoke anonymously at the Royal Commission, stated that Pastor Brian Houston accused victim AHA of tempting his dad and being the cause of all the trouble for his dad."

Voodoo Dance in Hillsong Church
In one of their services, a Hillsong church performed an evil, voodoo dance in front of the congregation. For more on this, please see the video Voodoo Dance in Hillsong Church.

Other Serious Issues and Concerns with Hillsong
In the following video called The Truth Behind The World's Hipster Church, numerous other issues are presented that are quite troublesome for Hillsong. Here are some salient points:

Naked Youth Pastor at Ladies' Meeting
There was a naked cowboy performing on stage at a ladies' conference at Hillsong New York City. Beside him were women dressed like cheerleaders with short skirts doing a broadway dance kicking their legs up high in the air. The naked man was actually the youth pastor (see 32:54 in video) from Hillsong Church. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God (Jude 1:11).

Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?
Brian Houston says the God that Christians serve is the Muslim God Allah (see 34:33 in video). This is the false teaching of the New Age, and it is the basis upon which the pope has established a one world religion. Those who espouse this philosophy believe in a "universal brotherhood" and participate in "inter-religious prayer" meetings. The Muslim God Allah is not the God that Christians worship, because Allah -- who is always angry -- is not a father and he has no son (sūrat l-isrā 17:111), but the Great God Jehova (Yehova) is the gracious and compassionate Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is known throughout Scripture as "Father" by those who know Him (Deu 32:6; Ps 68:5; Isa 9:6; 63:16; 64:8; Jer 3:4, 19 ; 31:9 ; Mal 1:6 ; 2:10; Lk 11:2; Jn 15:6). He is slow to anger and abounding in love, and even the Hebrew Scriptures teach that He has a Son (Psa 2:7-12; 80:17; Prov 30:4). God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). It's false to teach that Christians worship Allah, or that Muslims worship Jehova. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6, NIV)

Not Against Anything
In response to a question about preaching against sin, Carl Lentz, the pastor of Hillsong New York says, "We're not against anything." (see 39:03 in video). That's typical for an emergent church or seeker-friendly church. However, the Lord is against all sin, according to Scripture, therefore we must also be against it. Jesus certainly preached publicly against sin. And the apostle Peter, quoting the psalmist, wrote: "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1 Pe 3:12, NIV). Moreover, Peter quoted the proverb that says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (1 Pet 5:5).

Here is what the Lord said through the prophet Jeremiah:

“'I am against you, you destroying mountain,
    you who destroy the whole earth,'
declares the Lord.
'I will stretch out my hand against you,
    roll you off the cliffs,
    and make you a burned-out mountain.
No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
    nor any stone for a foundation,
    for you will be desolate forever,'
declares the Lord." (Jer 51:25-26, NIV)

This is very appropriate for Hillsong, since their name and brand imaging include hills, pyramids and mountains. If you look at my article, The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught, you will find that he warned a lot about hell and will see that His messaging was not exclusively positive like the seeker friendly churches, as I point out in my article, Was Jesus Seeker Friendly? Moreover, neither the Lord nor his apostles were seeking to be popular, as I point out in Persecuted or Popular? Whatever we see Hillsong doing must be compared or contrasted to what we see Jesus and His apostles doing and saying in Scripture, because there are certainly Sins That Will Keep You from Heaven, and it would not be loving or responsible to neglect to warn people about those sins.

Evasive Answer About Fornication
When Carl Lentz of Hillsong NYC was asked point blank by a reporter in an interview what he teaches about fornication, he was evasive and did not give a direct answer (see 38:19 in video). If that had been the apostle Paul, he would have explicitly said, "You must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people...Don't you know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor 5:11; 6:9-10, NIV). Unlike Carl Lentz, Paul the apostle would not have been evasive or afraid to answer the question directly, and neither would Jesus.

Leadership Issues, Breaches of Trust, and Moral Failures

UPDATE: In November 2020, two years after this article was originally published, Carl Lentz publicly confessed to being unfaithful to his wife after he was fired from his position as lead pastor of Hillsong New York. He was specifically fired for leadership issues, breaches of trust, and moral failures. Subsequent to firing Lentz, Brian Houston announced that Hillsong was "launching an independent investigation into the inner workings  of Hillsong NYC/ East Coast." CBN News reported:

"In a letter emailed by Brian Houston, the Hillsong Church's founding pastor, to Hillsong East Coast members and staff in New York City on Wednesday, Houston announced Carl Lentz had been terminated from his position as lead pastor. 

In the email obtained by CBN News, Houston indicated the reason for Lentz's termination as 'leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.'"

"Lentz, 41, was dismissed by Houston after it was revealed he had engaged in a months-long sexual affair with a woman known only as Ranin." 

After Lentz was fired in disgrace, Leona Kimes came forward with accusations that he had sexually abused her while she and her huband Josh Kimes were on staff at Hillsong / NYC. She claimed that the abuse occurred while she was serving as a nanny for Lentz's children. For more, see Pastors Josh and Leona Kimes Resign from Hillsong Boston After Enduring 'Immense Pain'.

Tragically, all of this is further evidence of the widespread apostasy within Hillsong that I wrote about in this article in 2018, two years prior. 

Welcome Atmosphere for LBGTQ 
As I have already mentioned earlier in this article, openly gay couples are welcome in the church (see 38:43 in video). Yet as I have just quoted, the apostle Paul explicitly said that homosexuals "will not inherit the kingdom of God." If Paul were asked what he thought about the gay lifestyle, he would say as he did to the Romans that homosexual behaviors are "shameful acts" and "unnatural sexual relations" that stem from "shameful lusts" (Rom 1:24-27). He would have called this a grave "error" (Rom 1:27) deserving "due penalty" from God, and it is only those with "depraved minds" who do such things that "ought not to be done" (Rom 1:28). He would have said "that those who do such things deserve death" (Rom 1:32).

However, Carl Lentz says that at Hillsong NYC they will never say such things publicly in church. He would only tell a homosexual couple what he thought of their lifestyle if he was in private with them "at their table" and they asked him specifically what he thought of it. He claims the reason for this is their love and acceptance of all people. While we should certainly love all people and accept them, we cannot neglect to tell them that they are living in sin. Someone said, "If Carl Lentz told his sodomite friends the truth that God finds homosexuality an abomination he wouldn't have any sodomite friends."

The Apostasy of Hillsong
In yet another video called The Apostasy of Hillsong. Entertainment For The Millenials, Jacob Prasch further exposes the great falling away that has occurred within this movement. One example is at 0:50 in the video, where Jacob shows on stage a bearded man intended to resemble Jesus Christ portraying Lady Liberty, which is a statue of the female Roman goddess Libertas. A male singer with a top hat is walking arm-in-arm with the transvestite Lady Liberty character, while the naked cowboy and mini-skirted cheerleaders mentioned earlier are also on the same stage. What message is the church trying to convey?

Silent Night, Unholy Night
Hillsong London produced a Christmas Carol video that featured Silent Night. It was performed by a woman dressed in a mini-skirt that revealed her bottom, who danced around the stage erotically like I suppose they do in a burlesque show. In addition, there were other indecently-dressed women dancing around the stage in the same fashion, in this blasphemous parody of Silent Night.

In a similar Christmas Carol video done by Hillsong Sydney Australia, at 1:01:04, just as the vocalist begins singing, "Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king," there are seven women in short shorts that begin dancing erotically in a squatting position with their legs spread-eagle facing the audience. What kind of message is this supposed to convey? It's another obscene, blasphemous performance that makes a mockery of the angels singing on the night Christ was born.

Pastor Wearing Tattoos 
In his interview on The View, pastor Carl Lentz proudly says he has about ten to twelve tattoos, which are obvious in most of the photos of him, including the one of him walking half naked with Justin Bieber. However, Scripture clearly says that we are not to have tattoos (Lev 19:28). For more on this, see my article on Tattoos and Body Piercing.

Compromising on Abortion
In that same interview at 2:57, when he was asked whether it was a sin in his church to have an abortion, he would not give a direct answer. Rather he said that would need to have a conversation with each individual, since God's will would be determined for each person individually based on their situation. That's a man-pleasing approach to handling this very serious matter. God hates innocent bloodshed (Dt 29:10; Prov 6:17). He commanded us, "Thou shalt not murder" (Ex 20:13). Jesus loves the little children and wants us to protect them (Mt 19:14). This is especially important for pastors to do in their shepherding role over the Lord's flock, so that not one of these innocent little ones is murdered.

The Pattern of This World
Many of the things I have cited above are evidence that Hillsong is worldly. However, the Scriptures clearly tell us, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Rom 12:2, NIV).

Further Research
Before I conclude this documentary, here are some suggested articles of mine that reveal from Scripture why the things I have just covered in this article are displeasing to God:

The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness

Separation from the World

Avoiding Worldly Worship

Purge the Evil from Among You

Persecuted or Popular?

Holy Living in a Perverted World

Garments of Godliness

Tattoos and Body Piercing

Testing the Spirits of False Prophets

Carrying Your Cross or Cross Dressing?

Abominations in the Sight of God

Pope Frances Supports Homosexuality


Other articles I have already suggested or linked to above include:

The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught

Was Jesus Seeker Friendly?

Persecuted or Popular?

Sins That Will Keep You from Heaven

The Sale of Christian Music and Art

Exposing Heresy

Purge the Evil from Among You

Pope Establishes One World Religion

New Age-New World Order

The False Gospel without Repentance

Putting it All Together
If you do your own research on Hillsong, you will find that this church has occult connections, which should have no place in the house of God. People apparently go to Hillsong to be entertained, not to read the Bible or to hear the whole counsel of God preached. Hillsong is an apostate, social church that is full of worldliness. One of their prominent NYC pastors has no problem indecently walking around half naked and nearly exposing himself in public. One pastor's wife (the founder's daughter-in law) is posting obscene photos and videos of herself online half naked in sensual poses, even wearing a shirt with an obscenity printed on it. The original founder of the church was a self-confessed child rapist. A voodoo dance was performed in one of their services openly on the platform. The founder teaches the New Age heresy that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. They greedily make tens of millions of dollars per year on the sale of their worship music. They welcome the LBGTQ crowd with open arms, but never preach against such lifestyles. And they believe a person can be an LBGTQ, loving the lifestyle, not once ever condemning it from the pulpit. They don't preach against sin or that men must repent, but rather preach the false gospel without repentance. When you consider all of the above, you should come to realize that this is a satanic, mass deception. It's rebellion!

My advice to anyone considering the Hillsong church is to run from it as fast as you can.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Other Scriptures from The Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Images may be subject to copyright and are used per the Fair Use Act for commentary and education purposes only.

Author's note:  I also recommend reading 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, Is Obedience Optional?, Faith Works!, The Cost of Discipleship, and Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God. I also recommend my daughter's poem, The Dazzling Wine of Deception. 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 Truth About the Roman Catholic Church

Pagan phallic symbol at the Vatican

I am a formerly devout, confirmed Roman Catholic, who served as an altar boy for several years, and later as a lector (reader) at mass. I have visited the Vatican and stood there in the crowd as Pope John Paul gave a general address to the audience back in around 1982. In my previous articles, I have revealed the shocking truth about the Roman Catholic Church from a theological, doctrinal, practical, traditional, and moral perspective. As an insider with first-hand knowledge and experience, I write these things in love, with the hopes that those who are still in that religion would know the truth that will set them free. In this post, I would like to make all those past articles available in one place for those who want to do some in-depth research or share this information with a friend or loved one for their information.

Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church

Why Infant Baptism is Not Scriptural

Pagan Symbols of the Popes

Pope Frances Supports Homosexuality

Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshiping Idols

Former Pope in Hell Declared a Saint

New Age-New World Order

Pope Establishes One World Religion

Catholic Priests Molesting Children

False Prophet Pope Pushing for the Mark of the Beast?
The Marine Kingdom and Queen of the Coast

Ten Commandments: Catholic vs. Protestant

If you will take the time to read each of these posts prayerfully, and do your research in the Bible, in Church history, and in other authentic, verifiable sources to see if these things are really true, you will discover that what I am telling you is the honest truth. When I say prayerfully, I mean you need to pray and ask God to show you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened.

The Roman Catholic Church is corrupt from top to bottom and is run like the mafia, which I can say based on reliable sources within the Catholic Church itself. I am not referring to some isolated incident or some trifling doctrinal difference that I have with the church. This is an occult, Babylonian religion that will lead you down to hell. It is not the true Christian Church that was started by Christ, and which we read about in the New Testament. It's a phony imitation of the Church -- a whore church -- that has satan's fingerprints and designs all over it. It certainly has enough documented, factual evidence of systematic sexual abuse going back over the past thousand years to be considered a perverted sex cult.

Therefore, in my opinion it is not something that we should seek to reform, since its leadership has already had many opportunities to do so in the past and failed miserably. Despite all the precious, sincere, well-meaning people who are a part of it without knowing any better, and who may consider themselves to be true lovers of God, the fact is that it is a satanic sect, which you need to escape from for the sake of your own soul and the souls of your family members. God loves each one of you and doesn't want you to perish.

Think about it. If I am wrong, then when you do your research, beginning with the links above, you can prove to your own satisfaction that I am wrong based on Scripture and historical facts. In that case, you would have nothing to worry about. But if I'm right, which I know I am with God as my witness, then the stakes are high and your soul depends on what I have presented to you here. If you really want to know the truth, then you will not be disappointed. Either way, no matter what you do, you will find out the truth at the judgment seat of Christ. Find out now before it's too late!

Author's note: If you enjoyed this article, I recommend Angelica Zambrano's First Visit to Hell and Angelica Zambrano's Second Visit to Hell. I also recommend watching Sister Charlotte- A Nun's Testimony.I also suggest visiting the Ivarjed website that has a photo journal of some horrible acts of paganism in the Catholic Church, and Jack Chick's page on Catholicism. My testimony of how I came to know Christ is found in my article called The Truth Set Me Free!. I also recommend my daughter's poem, The Dazzling Wine of Deception. 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.

Catholic Priests Molesting Children

At numerous times over the past three decades we have heard news reports about cases of Catholic priests molesting children. This is truly a tragedy of the highest magnitude, when the very religious leaders that these children and their parents trust to be godly examples turn out to be evil predators.

Fr. Edward Avery, former Philadelphia
priest pleaded guilty of sex abuse charge

In the most recently example, a grand jury accused over 300 Pennsylvania Catholic priests of molesting more than 1,000 children. The Fox News report said that the grand jury's "findings echoed many earlier church investigations around the country." What a tragedy! Here is the report, which you should be warned contains graphic allegations of sexual abuse. It says, "The 'real number' of abused children might be in the thousands." According to Fox News, "U.S. bishops have acknowledged that more than 17,000 people nationwide have reported being molested by priests and others in the church."

The victims were mostly boys, but some of them were girls also. The report documents the horrors perpetrated by these priests like anal rape, fondling, oral sex, and child pornography. These sometimes resulted in pregnancies and suicides. In some cases these priests even paid for abortions for girls they raped and got pregnant. They also further abused their victims by seeking to silence them and pay them off.

And rather than punish the priests responsible, the Catholic Church leaders merely move these pedophiles to another parish, where they are free to abuse more victims. The Fox article states that "The grand jury accused Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who leads the Washington archdiocese, of helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh’s bishop." As I stated, they named more than 300 of these allegedly abusive priests, and while many of them are either dead or retired, a few of them are still in ministry!

What reproach they have brought upon the name of Christ! What torment for their victims! These are the kind of people that God is against. He does not tolerate hypocrisy, especially among the shepherds in the Church, who are supposed to be feeding the flock, but instead feed only their own carnal appetites. Ezekiel the prophet wrote, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?"'" (Ez 34:2).

The Lord goes on to describe how these shepherds, have slaughtered the sheep, ate the fat, and clothed themselves with the wool. They failed to strengthen the sickly, they have not healed the diseased, or bound up the broken, they have not brought back the ones who were scattered, nor have they sought for the lost; but with force and with severity they have dominated the sheep. They reason the sheep were scattered was for lack of a proper shepherd, and as a result they became food for every wild beast. The Lord says:

"Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 'As I live,' declares the Lord GOD, 'surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them."'" (Eze 34:7-10)

The Lord gave a similar message the Jeremiah the prophet as well. "'Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!' declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: 'You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,' declares the LORD." (Jer 23:1-2)

This is what Jesus condemned when He said, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Mt 18:6). It was in this very same context of harming children that the Lord said, "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" (Mt 18:7).

The latest report proves that the Catholic Church is an organized crime syndicate like the mafia, in light of their systematic cover up of abuses that occurred over a period of 70 years. While the grand jury report covers only six of the eight Pennsylvania dioceses, there were already three previous grand jury investigations into abuses in the other two dioceses - the archdiocese of Philadephia and Altoona-Johnston. Therefore, this is a state-wide problem across all Pennsylvania dioceses.

These crimes were covered up by the Catholic hierarchy all the way from the local diocese to the Vatican. One of the things they have done is try to refer these cases to the Vatican in Rome where they can hold their own secret hearings and investigate themselves. The church has sought to reduce the church's legal exposure and maintain strategies to “avoid scandal.” When state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the report, he said that now at last “we can begin to understand the systematic coverup of church officials.”

Former Boston Catholic priest Paul Shanley,
Convicted of Raping Boy

This is not unique to Pennsylvania, nor is it the first such scandal to hit the Catholic Church. There was also the controversy in Boston, Massachusetts, surrounding John Geoghan, a convicted pedophile priest, who is now defrocked. He was accused of molesting more than a 100 victims over a period of 40 years. Since that scandal, other dioceses in Massachusetts have come forward and turned over their records of abusive priests to the law enforcement authorities.

Prior to that one, there was also a priest pedophilia scandal in Louisiana, and there was another one in Texas as well. According to Wikipedia, "The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas paid $30.9 million in 1998 to twelve victims of one priest." The Wikipedia article, Catholic Church sex abuse cases in the United States, documents others scandals in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, and other places, but there are also cases reported outside the United States as well. For example, a nun in Argentina was arrested for helping priests rape deaf children. In fact there is a large database of publicly accused priests, which is posted online. Of course, not all of those accusations contained in the database are true, but it helps to show the magnitude of the problem. These are not isolated incidents, but are pervasive throughout the church.

After decades of abuse, the Catholic Church has failed to adequately resolve the issue. But it is taking its toll on the church, because many dioceses have gone bankrupt from fighting the legal battles, and many people have stopped attending the church, as well as withdrawn their financial support. In fact, according to Wikipedia, "Eight Catholic dioceses have declared bankruptcy due to sex abuse cases from 2004–2011." However, as of 2018 the number has now risen to twenty dioceses and religious orders that have gone bankrupt over this scandal. According to Fox News, the clergy sex abuse of children has cost the Catholic Church more than $3 billion.

Furthermore, many Catholic nuns have broken the silence and come forth about the sexual abuse they faced at the hands of priests and bishops, such as sister Charlotte, whose testimony is posted online. She suddenly disappeared two years after giving this testimony.



You may read the transcript of the above audio recording of Sister Charlotte's Testimony.

Or here is a longer transcript of Sister Charlotte's Testimony with more details.

Priests Who Follow Their Own Sensual Desires
Peter the apostle warned that there would be false prophets who would arise like these priests and bishops have. He said. "Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned." (2Pe 2:2). As a result of the disgraceful acts that these priests have committed, others have blasphemed and spoken evil of the way of truth.

The Pope's Culpability

Pope Francis (L) and Archbishop McCarrick (R)

Ultimately the Pope is culpable, because he oversees the entire Roman Catholic Church universally, and the buck stops with him. He knew about these things, but has not properly addressed them and has actually covered them up.

According to FoxNews contributor Raymond Arroyo on 'The Ingraham Angle,' Carlo Maria Viganò, the former top Vatican diplomat in the United States, who is well-respected, has exposed the Pope and called for his resignation. Archbishop Viganò felt he could not go to his grave without clearing his conscience by writing a letter on August 25, 2018 revealing a major cover up of sexual abuse in the Church. He said his "conscience dictates" that he reveal the truth, because the corruption has "reached the very top of the church's hierarchy."

His 11-page letter states that the Pope and other top officials in the Church knew of the allegations against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who is the former Archbishop of Washington D.C. In fact, the Vatican was informed in 2000 of McCarrick's "gravely immoral behaviour with seminarians and priests," and was subsequently informed again two more times between 2005 and 2011.

Initially Pope Benedict XVI placed severe restrictions on McCarrick for his behavior, but Francis later lifted the sanctions. According to Wikipedia, Viganò states that "Pope Francis subsequently removed these sanctions and made McCarrick 'his trusted counselor', even though Francis 'knew from at least June 23, 2013 that McCarrick was a serial predator. He knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end.'" Viganò reveals a potential motive for this special treatment, stating that McCarrick played an important role in Francis being elected to the papal office.

The Wikipedia article goes on to say that "Monsignor Jean-François Lantheaume, the former first counsellor at the apostolic nunciature in Washington D.C., confirmed that Viganò had told 'the truth.'" Additionally, Joseph Strickland the bishop of Tyler, Texas also made a public statement that Viganò's allegations are credible. According to Edward Pentin of the National Catholic register, reporting from Rome, his sources say that Viganò does seem to have a lot of credibility. Viganò states in his letter that he is ready to reaffirm under oath the statements he has made in his letter, calling on God as his witness. As I have stated, Viganò has called for the Pope and other officials who knew about McCarrick's behavior to resign.

When Francis was questioned about this letter by reporters aboard the papal jet, he answered evasively, declining to comment. On August 29, 2018, ANSA, the top wire service in Italy, stated in an article called Pope bitter over Viganò case that Francis is "embittered" by Viganò's letter, even though the former envoy has stated he is not acting in revenge. The article states that Francis is not considering stepping down.

In his letter, Viganò revealed that there is a "mafia" style culture within the Roman Catholic Church, and according to a report from EWTN Nightly News from a Catholic perspective, he fears for his own life, which is clearly in danger for coming out with these revelations. He even states in his letter that two other Apostolic Nuncios in the United States* are now both prematurely deceased after informing the Holy See of Archbishop McCarrick’s "gravely immoral behavior with seminarians and priests." One of those Nuncios was Pietro Sambi, whose death came unexpectedly following an incident when he called McCarrick into his office in either 2009 or 2010 and reprimanded him sternly, announcing Benedict's measures against him. It has been reported by multiple sources that Viganò has been forced into "hiding" for fear of his life.

Moreover, the aforementioned ANSA article stated, "Viganò also claimed there was a powerful gay lobby in the Church he blamed for the abuse cover-ups, naming names." I have personally read the entire letter and can confirm that Viganò definitely described this all in detail. He states that there was a certain collaborator of Pope Benedict, named "Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who notoriously favored promoting homosexuals into positions of responsibility." This is not a new revelation, but one that has been known for quite some time. In 2012 Fr. Dariusz Oko, Ph.D., a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow and Assistant Professor at the John Paul II Pontifical University in Krakow documented his discovery of a “huge homosexual underground in the Church,” which substantiates the belief that there is a "gay mafia" inside the Vatican, known as the "lavender mafia."

While pro-gay forces within the church deny that homosexuality is the root cause for the sexual abuses, Viganò states that "80% of the abuses found were committed against young adults by homosexuals who were in a relationship of authority over their victims." He further corroborates his claims by citing the results of independent studies that have been conducted saying, "Independent Reports by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2004 and 2011...concluded that, in cases of sexual abuse, 81% of the victims were male. In fact, ...in most cases it is a question of homosexual abuse.”

He goes on to say, "The seriousness of homosexual behavior must be denounced," and quotes another source who has likewise concluded that "The homosexual networks present in the Church must be eradicated." This is not isolated to a specific case of abuse or to one location. In fact, "These homosexual networks, which are now widespread in many dioceses, seminaries, religious orders, etc., act under the concealment of secrecy and lies with the power of octopus tentacles, and strangle innocent victims and priestly vocations, and are strangling the entire Church." This proves the problem is widespread, and is intentionally being covered up, which challenges the pope's insistence that there is "zero tolerance" for sex abuse and cover ups. It is no wonder this is happening on Francis' watch, since he supports homosexuality.

One of the religious orders that Viganò explicitly calls out for abuse in his letter is the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, of which Francis is a member. Viganò reveals that there is a deviant wing of that order that is part of the church's problem.

He calls out "the grave, disconcerting and sinful conduct of Pope Francis." He has told Francis about specific immoral behavior going on the Roman Catholic Church in America, and the pope was neither surprised, nor did he show any concern. Viganò states: "...in the case of McCarrick, [Pope Francis] not only did not oppose evil but associated himself in doing evil with someone he knew to be deeply corrupt. He followed the advice of someone he knew well to be a pervert, thus multiplying exponentially with his supreme authority the evil done by McCarrick. And how many other evil pastors is Francis still continuing to prop up in their active destruction of the Church!" He concludes that Francis "has divided [the brethren], led them into error, and encouraged the wolves to continue to tear apart the sheep of Christ’s flock."

A Thousand Years of Abuse
This sexual abuse is nothing new for the Roman Catholic Church, but has been going on for a thousand years. In his letter, Viganò cites a letter he once wrote to Pope Benedict in 2006, in which he requested permission to disclose to the pope the details of sexual abuse happening in the US. In that 2006 letter, Viganò said that doing so would be similar to what Peter Damian did in his letter to Pope Leo nearly a thousand years ago. He stated that he wished to document for Benedict the deplorable conditions in the present-day American church "with the same intensity that motivated Peter Damian to lay out before...Pope Leo IX, a description of the condition of the clergy during his time. The problems he spoke of are similar and as great now in the United States as they were then in Rome."

A Wikepedia article about Peter Damian states: "About 1050, during the pontificate of Pope Leo IX, [Damian] wrote a scathing treatise on the vices of the clergy, including sexual abuse of minors and actions by church superiors to hide the crimes. Liber Gomorrhianus was openly addressed to the pope." As we can easily learn from history, Pope Leo failed to address these abuses during those days, and Francis is failing to correct them now. They have never been properly dealt with, but instead covered up. It has been one continuous stream of evil for centuries within this corrupt church. When will people realize that this is a deviant branch of the true Church that for all intents and purposes may be classified as a perverted sex cult.

Idolatry in Vigano's Letter
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not call attention to the fact that Viganò ends his treatise by calling upon the name of Mary for help with this terrible dilemma, rather than the name of Jesus, which goes directly against Scripture. He prays, "Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us! Mary, Virgin and Queen, Mother of the King of glory, pray for us!" This is one of the many Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church that I have written about in my article by that name. The Lord Jesus Christ told us that He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father, except by Him (Joh 14:6). Mary is neither the Mother of the Church nor the Queen of Heaven as the Catholics call her, and I have explained this from Scripture in my articles Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshipping Idols and The Marine Kingdom and Queen of the Coast.

Scripture teaches us that there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim 2:5). When Jesus taught us to pray, he said to pray to the heavenly Father, not to Mary. To do otherwise would be in direct disobedience to His instruction to us in the gospels, and to the very first commandment that says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex 20:3-5).

The Matter is Established by Two or Three Witnesses
We should not receive an accusation against an elder, unless it is brought by two or three witnesses (1 Tim 5:19). However, this particular matter definitely has at least two or three witnesses. In fact, there are thousands of witnesses of the horrific abuses and cruelty perpetrated against the Members of the Catholic Church by their shepherds. And now we have this detailed treatise of abuses by a highly placed Archbishop, detailing the scandal with names and places.

As I wrote in The Power of Two or Three, Jesus said that "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed." (Mat 18:16). Therefore, the matter presented in this article has been duly confirmed. By that I don't mean to say that every accusation that any person ever made against a priest anywhere in the world is true or that every accused priest is guilty, but the fact that so many have made these same kinds of allegations over such a long period of time across such a wide geographical area nationally (and even globally) confirms that this is a pervasive problem throughout the Catholic Church. Such an overwhelming amount of evidence simply cannot be ignored.

Putting it All Together
I hope that this article has helped to expose the pattern of horrible abuses that have taken place withing the Roman Catholic Church, and which may still be taking place today. As John the apostle wrote in the book of Revelation:

"I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.'" (Rev 18:4-5)

If you are still in the Catholic Church, then come out of it. One of the things the Lord said through Ezekiel the prophet was that He is going to go after His lost sheep Himself and gather them back. The Lord Jesus loves you. He wants to be your Shepherd, feed you, care for you, and heal your wounds.

For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. "As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. "I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. "I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. "I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD. "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment." (Eze 34:11-16)

And the Lord said in the gospel of John:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." (Joh 10:10-15)

Jesus Christ laid down His life for you. He is not like those priests and bishops, who are actually wolves in sheep's clothing. He is the good Shepherd and He desires a personal relationship with you. He died on the cross so that you could be made whole, forgiven, washed, cleansed, and have a personal relationship with Him.

I have an important question for you below, so don't go away.

Footnote: *Nuncio is an ambassador from the Vatican to the United States or another country.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Photo of Paul Shanley copyright Associated Press via WBUR news, used according to Fair Use Act for commentary and educational purposes.  Photo of Edward Avery copyright McLaughlin & Lauricella, trial attorneys.

Author's note: I strongly recommend reading Viganò's 11-page letter and viewing the videos I have posted on my Eternal Destinations blog about a young Ecuadorean girl who has visited hell twice.  She testifies to some things about the Catholic Church that she saw in hell, which are directly relevant to the topic of this blog.  Don't miss Angelica Zambrano's First Visit to Hell, Angelica Zambrano's Second Visit to Hell, Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshipping Idols, Former Pope in Hell Declared a Saint, Pagan Symbols of the Popes, Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, and Pope Frances Supports Homosexuality. I also suggest visiting the Ivarjed website that has a photo journal of some horrible acts of paganism in the Catholic Church, and Jack Chick's page on Catholicism. Also see AP Exclusive: Despite denial, Pope got abuse victim’s letter. 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?"

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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.