Day: September 9, 2015

CHRISTIAN PARENTS: BEWARE OF WOLVES ON SECULAR COLLEGE CAMPUSES

On By Geri UngureanIn Uncategorized1 Comment

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“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

In hopes that the Lord will use me in some small way to help another Christian parent, I am writing this piece.

I am going to tell you the story of my oldest son. For the sake of his privacy, I will not use his name. It’s a sad story, but I don’t know how this story will end. The Lord certainly can do whatever He wills in my son’s life, but ultimately it will be up to him how he answers Jesus.

I was born again when my son was three years old. He loved coming to church with me and he talked about Jesus a lot. He was very artistic, even at this young age. He drew so many pictures of Jesus – Jesus on the Cross; Jesus with children, and Jesus hugging him.

I kept all of the artwork of my children from the time they could draw stick figures! I know, silly, right? But it is fun to take the huge envelopes down, now that they are grown, and look through them.

We attended a wonderful Baptist church when my son was in his early teens. He loved our pastor, who is now in heaven. I noticed that my son was reading his Bible every day. He would speak openly with me about how much he loved the Lord.

One Sunday, when the pastor explained salvation (as he always did) and asked if there was anyone who had felt the Lord drawing him/her to repent and trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, my son stood up and went forward. He prayed with Pastor Dana, and was so thrilled. He told the pastor that day that he wanted to be baptized. He said that he knew that Jesus wanted him to be baptized. The next week my son was baptized.

He began to buy books by the great theologians. He had quite a library of these books. He told me that he had gone through the Bible, and he intended to read through it again and again. I really had never seen a person more on fire for the Lord.

Do you remember “Meet you at the Pole?” It was a day where Christian children would gather around their school’s flagpole and pray for their school before school opened. My son did this in high school. When he got home, he told me that he was the only one there, but that it didn’t matter. I told him that Jesus was so proud of him, and so was I.

He had a favorite Sunday school teacher. She loved him dearly, and would buy him books to help him with his study of the Word. She was amazed by him as well.

When my son was 17 years old, he told me that he thought that the Lord may be calling him to preach. I assured him that I would pray that he would know clearly the Lord’s will in his life.

COLLEGE

My son entered a secular college in our area. He is exceptionally bright and chose as his major, physics. He came home during the first week of school, and seemed so upset. He told me that he wanted to write a rebuttal to an article which was published in the school paper. The article mocked Jesus and also Christians. He wrote a rebuttal but never sent it in.

I was noticing a change in him. It wasn’t blatant, but I knew that something had changed – something was troubling him. When I would ask him if he was okay, he would say that he was fine. I knew this was not true.

He began to question the Bible. He would ask questions about the Old Testament and why God had to have people killed. I would respond to him that God is sovereign and that He has his reasons for doing everything He does. That did not seem to help in my son’s confusion.

During the rest of his college years, he stopped reading his Bible, and did not want to discuss God with me at all. After college, he got a great job in his field. It was there that he met his future wife who is an atheist.

My son moved to the other side of the country and married his girlfriend. She made it clear to me during visits that she detested anyone to talk about Jesus to her, and that she knew that He was a fable. She clearly placed the line in the sand.

A SURPRISE

One day, I received a friend request on Facebook from a young man whom I did not know. I wrote to him and asked how he knew me. He responded that he was a good friend of my son’s in the physics department during college. He told me that he had something to tell me — that it was eating at him for years.

I accepted him as a friend on Facebook. He proceeded to tell me that when my son first came to the college, everyone knew he was a very strong believer in Jesus. He told me that he watched as my son fell away from his faith, and that he felt that he contributed to this happening in my son’s life. He said that he and some other classmates teased my son unmercifully about being a Christian. He also told me that most of the professors were anti-Christian, and would make Christian students feel stupid in front of the whole class. But it was his part in this whole thing that was troubling this fellow. He asked my forgiveness.

I told him that I totally forgave him. I also told him that it was my son’s decision to walk away from the Lord, and that we knew that those in the world would persecute us harshly. This began a back and forth dialogue, in which he told me that he himself was now searching for the truth.

This friend of my son’s has not written to me for a few years, but he has remained a Facebook friend. I pray that if he looks at my page, that seeds are being sown in his heart by the Holy Spirit.

A VISIT

Early this year, my son, his wife and my new granddaughter came to visit us. I cannot fly because of health issues. I had learned through the years to stay away from hot topics that would set off fights. I always prayed before one of these visits, that God would help me to be a good witness for Him, but also that He would give me wisdom. It was no secret that hubby and I loved Jesus and lived for Him. We do pray over meals and my son and his wife tolerate that.

Things were going well. We were enjoying our precious granddaughter. But one evening my son came up the stairs and said this to me:

“Out of all the crazy books that you have in this house, I do believe I’ve found one that tops them all.”

It caught me off guard. I had prayed that I would be mellow and not fall into one of these pits which were so obviously set up by the devil. But I became fiery in my response to him. I basically told him that no matter how old he was, that he was under our roof, and he should not speak to us in such a rude and thoughtless manner. I was very angry.

We began to exchange words and finally my husband said “Enough!” But then, my son’s wife said that perhaps it would be better for their daughter to not be exposed to such fighting in a dysfunctional atmosphere – that just maybe they would not bring her again.

Things settled down and the rest of the visit was enjoyable. I knew in my heart that my son had started that argument, and that it was being used against me. I knew that Satan had set me up. I hoped and prayed that this event would not be used against me.

MONTHS LATER

My son had not spoken of another visit, and I was beginning to be anxious about this. I finally had the courage to send him an email, asking when they would bring the baby out again. He wrote back that they had not planned on coming out because they just didn’t know how the baby would act at this age on the plane. He added that we were welcome to come out there, but that he knew that driving out there would probably be too much for us.

So, there it was. What I dreaded was coming to pass.

YOUNGER SON

My younger son had fallen away after his older brother. I had always thought that he just followed suit because he looked up to him. I found something in his old bedroom that literally made me ill.

My younger son had written an essay for placement in his college journalism class. There was a note attached by his professor, raving over the essay. The essay was about his faith in Jesus as a young man, and how his older brother showed him through a book by Tolstoy “My Confession” that it was time to break away from the beliefs of his parents, and search for truth by himself.

PARENTS BEWARE

The main reason that I wrote this piece was to expose the secular colleges as a vehicle of Satan to snatch our children away from the Lord. I understand that even Christian colleges have this problem, because many are filled with liberal minded professors. But I can’t believe that it is as bad as the secular colleges.

I do pray everyday that my sons were truly saved, and that they are prodigals, who will one day open their eyes and realize that they are in a pigpen, and are miserable. I pray that they will once again look up, and get on their knees and ask forgiveness from the Lord.

“ And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:17-20).

MARANATHA

POPE FRANCIS IS TO THE VATICAN, WHAT OBAMA IS TO THE U.S.

On By Geri UngureanIn False Prophet, Pope Francis4 Comments

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I remember in 2008, when Obama was declared the President of the United States. I could hardly breathe. I sat in silence for hours; not wanting to believe it was true.

I had warned so many people about him. Having done extensive research on the man, with the little that we did know of his past, I was determined to tell as many people as I could that this man was dangerous for our country.

We knew of his ultra liberal voting record as a U.S. Senator. He was deemed left of Ted Kennedy! We knew that he had close ties with Planned Parenthood. We also knew of his association with people like Bill Ayers and his Marxist pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who spewed his hateful Black Liberation Theology to his congregation every Sunday. Those of us who have discernment knew that Barack Hussein Obama was going to be a curse on our country.

I kept turning it over in my mind — how could this happen? What was wrong with the people? And since that fateful night in November of 2008, he has turned this country into something that is foreign to us. It’s not the America we knew as we grew up. He said that he would fundamentally transform the U.S. and that is exactly what he has done.

POPE FRANCIS

When Pope Benedict suddenly stepped down from the papacy, I had a feeling that something was amiss at the Vatican. Actually, things are always amiss at the Vatican, but this was different. It was like things were out of control; or perhaps someone else was in control. It took less than two days for the conclave to usher in their new pope.

We found out that Pope Francis was the first Jesuit to ever be a pope — the very first! As I researched this more, I realized that the Jesuits were always considered the military arm of the Vatican. Even Catholic priests were shocked when Francis was placed in his position. I began to do more research on the Jesuits. What I was seeing was more than a bit alarming. Assassinations, political plots, helping Hitler to power in Germany; the list goes on and it reads like a terrifying novel. I had no idea that the Jesuits were like this. They sounded more like the mafia than part of the Vatican.

CONSERVATIVE DISSENT IS BREWING INSIDE THE VATICAN

I read an article today from the Washington Post (not usually my choice for news) but I found the piece to be intriguing. Here is an excerpt:

VATICAN CITY — On a sunny morning earlier this year, a camera crew entered a well-appointed apartment just outside the 9th-century gates of Vatican City. Pristinely dressed in the black robes and scarlet sash of the princes of the Roman Catholic Church, Wisconsin-born Cardinal Raymond Burke sat in his elaborately upholstered armchair and appeared to issue a warning to Pope Francis.

A staunch conservative and Vatican bureaucrat, Burke had been demoted by the pope a few months earlier, but it did not take the fight out of him. Francis had been backing a more inclusive era, giving space to progressive voices on divorced Catholics as well as gays and lesbians. In front of the camera, Burke said he would “resist” liberal changes — and seemed to caution Francis about the limits of his authority. “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope,” Burke told the French news crew. [1]

Didn’t the college of Cardinals which made up the papal conclave do their research on this man before voting? If they had, they would have found that the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, had a past that was certainly not typical of a leader in the Catholic church.

It seems feasible that the Jesuit community may have been instrumental in placing their man on the papal throne.
Cardinal Raymond Burke went on in the Post article:

Papal power, Burke warned, “is not absolute.” He added, “The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”
Burke’s words belied a growing sense of alarm among strict conservatives, exposing what is fast emerging as a culture war over Francis’s papacy and the powerful hierarchy that governs the Roman Catholic Church. [1]

In a prior article about Pope Francis, I wrote:

“I have done much research on this pope. I found that when he was Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, he had close friends who were Wiccans and pagans. He even allowed some Unitarian Universalist acquaintances to hold services in his Cathedral in Buenos  Aires, Argentina.  I read that Wiccans, pagans and New Agers in general, were intrigued by the man, and many truly loved him.”

The name of that article was “Pope Francis – False Prophet.” [2]

Pope Francis prepares for his trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with Obama and then to address a joint session of Congress. This has never happened in the history of our country. Francis then goes to NY to be the keynote speaker for the Climate Change conference at the U.N. It seems that Pope Francis fashions himself a politician now. Well, that would make sense since we never hear anything from him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

This Pope’s liberal leanings are not just causing dissension within the Vatican. It seems that Catholic priests worldwide are either speaking against his unconventional teachings, or his allies are using this to push the envelope and see just how far they can go with issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion.

The Post article continues:

“Yet as he upends church convention, Francis also is grappling with a conservative backlash to the liberal momentum building inside the church. In more than a dozen interviews, including with seven senior church officials, insiders say the change has left the hierarchy more polarized over the direction of the church than at any point since the great papal reformers of the 1960s.

The conservative rebellion is taking on many guises — in public comments, yes, but also in the rising popularity of conservative Catholic Web sites promoting Francis dissenters; books and promotional materials backed by conservative clerics seeking to counter the liberal trend; and leaks to the news media, aimed at Vatican reformers.
In his recent comments, Burke was also merely stating fact. Despite the vast powers of the pope, church doctrine serves as a kind of constitution. And for liberal reformers, the bruising theological pushback by conservatives is complicating efforts to translate the pope’s transformative style into tangible changes.

“At least we aren’t poisoning each other’s chalices anymore,” said the Rev. Timothy Radcliffe, a liberal British priest and Francis ally appointed to an influential Vatican post in May. Radcliffe said he welcomed open debate, even critical dissent within the church. But he professed himself as being “afraid” of “some of what we’re seeing”

Rather than stake out clear stances, the pope is more subtly, often implicitly, backing liberal church leaders who are pressing for radical change, while dramatically opening the parameters of the debate over how far reforms can go. For instance, during the opening of a meeting of senior bishops last year, Francis told those gathered, “Let no one say, ‘This you cannot say.’ ” [1]

In my article, “Pope Francis – False Prophet,” I made the case that this man could very well be the one spoken of in the Word of God as the False Prophet.

Brethren, I feel strongly that everything happening with this Pope is Satanically influenced.

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed” (Revelation 13:11-12).

The Word says that he had two horns like a lamb. This brings to mind gentleness. Have you noticed that Pope Francis has a gentle demeanor? He looks like someone that you would invite into your home. But the Word also says he speaks as a dragon. This means that he speaks as a serpent – he lies and deceives and confuses.

I believe that these new events just confirm what many are thinking. Some are even asking if this man could be the Antichrist. We are seeing God’s prophetic Word playing out before our eyes.

Share this with unbelieving friends and families. Let them see for themselves that God’s Word is in the news every day! Then share the Gospel with them. Show them that they can know that they will be in heaven when they die. Time is so short.

MARANATHA!

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-conservative-revolt-is-brewing-inside-the-vatican/

[2] http://www.raptureready.com/soap2/ungurean56.html