Apparently the Reformers Shouldn’t Have Bothered

[billiefan2000]

Apparently the Reformers Shouldn’t Have Bothered


The evangelical megachurch in Chandler, Arizona, featured below,


http://rr-bb.com/showthread.php?t=41465


and I do use the term “church” loosely, is featuring a unique minister in the, um,

pulpit on April 20.


For “Friend Day”, they are bringing in a devout Roman Catholic as speaker for all services.



This “minister” has the additional recommendation of being a successful Hollywood actor.


Jim Caviezel


who acted in the Passion of the Christ as well as several other successful movies, will be bringing the message to the assembled evangelical Christians.


The woman at the front desk had no problem with the fact that their doctrinal statement claims that the Bible is their authority in all things.


When I asked her why they would have a devout Roman Catholic presenting


the message in all the Sunday services when Roman Catholics do not believe in Scripture alone,


(that’s why we needed the Reformation), she said, “well, I don’t see it that way.”


How we see things is what matters now, folks.


It’s not what Scripture says.


It’s not what we can know from church history and from the testimony of the present Catholic leadership in Rome,


or the Council of Trent and the fact that it is never been renounced,


it’s how we feel about things.



It’s the fact that Jim is a successful, attractive,


Hollywood star and that means warm bodies in the church on a Sunday morning.



Who cares what message people will hear? Who cares that the man speaking is required to believe that there is no salvation outside the mother Church?



Who cares that this is what Roman Catholics sang around the world at the Jubilee celebration of Pope John Paul II:

Long Live The Pope
A Hymn for the Pope

Long live the Pope!
His praises sound
Again and yet again:
His rule is over space and time:
His throne the heart of men:
All hail! The Shepherd Pope of Rome,
The theme of loving song:
Let all the earth his glory sing
And heav’n the strain prolong…

The Pope’s rule is over time and space?


Do the pastors at Cornerstone Church in Chandler, Arizona believe that?


He is enthroned in the hearts of men? I thought that place was for Christ alone?


Why would this evangelical church feature Jim Caviezel who is required to believe these things because he is a “devout Roman Catholic” by his own definition?


Are they not troubled by this?

Did all the martyrs who died in the flames and who were otherwise tortured for their faith in Christ alone have to die?


Should they have hugged their Roman Catholic tormenters and said,

“I guess it doesn’t really matter after all.


We all believe in Christ, right?


Never mind.”

How can evangelicals betray the Lord Jesus Christ this way when our forefathers died in the flames for biblical truth?

When you have Superhero Sunday, and Hollywood actors wowing the congregation instead


of preachers faithfully expounding on the Word of God in the pulpit (they don’t have pulpits anymore), this is what happens.


A gross biblical illiteracy coupled with a complete ignorance of church history,

coupled with a culturally influenced church that lives by its feelings instead of objective truth, adds up to complete theological disaster.


This church is living proof of that and there are thousands more just like this one.

Weep for what has happened.



http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=595

[billiefan2000]

New Christian Confronts Cornerstone Chandler on Caviezel in Pulpit

A reader from Cornerstone Community Church in Chandler, Arizona saw that Slice was covering the appearance of actor Jim Caviezel in the pulpit of his church for all three services on “Friendship Day”.



He sent me a copy of the letter he gave to the pastoral leadership of his church.



He gave me permission to publish it here. It sums up beautifully the core doctrinal issues at stake.


How is it that a believer who three years ago was a Mormon convert from Catholicism can have a better handle on biblical truth than these pastors?



Dear Pastors,

My wife and I have been attending Cornerstone for about one year.


We have loved our experience worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ at Cornerstone.



Just three years ago we were living in northern Utah leading what we thought was a happy Mormon life.


My wife was raised Mormon and I was raised Catholic but converted to Mormonism at age 19.


To make a long story short, the Biblical Jesus called us out of the darkness of that false religious system and into his marvelous light. (1Peter 2:9)


We are so grateful for Christ’s amazing grace. We know that we are saved by Jesus’ grace alone, by Christ alone—nothing else.


Soon after we arrived at Cornerstone I taught several courses on the differences between Mormonism and Biblical Christianity


which I thoroughly enjoyed doing. I


believe we really helped some of our fellow Christians (and non-Christians)


understand that Mormons at times can share what seems to be strong and powerful testimonies of Jesus and his grace.



But the Jesus and grace they speak of are totally different than the Biblical Jesus and grace.


We were careful to let ourclasses know that as Jeremiah in the Old Testament said our hearts can be “deceitful above all things…” (Jer. 17:9)


and that we must test any “feelings” or super natural experiences against scripture.

But my heart aches with the announcement that devout Roman Catholic Jim Caviezel is speaking at Cornerstone.



To make matters worse, it is being billed as an evangelical opportunity for us to bring our friends to the saving faith in the Biblical Jesus.


I sent two emails of concern to Pastors Jeff Royce and George Bedlion and I spoke to both of them on the phone.

Both men were very gracious in allowing me to express my shock and disappointment that a Roman Catholic

was being used to preach the Biblical Jesus.


I thank these men of God for their kindness and understanding.



Soon after the phone calls with Pastors Royce and Bedlion,


I received an “official” email stating the motivations and purpose of having Jim Caviezel speak at Cornerstone.


But after reading this email it became clear to me that Cornerstone may not have all the facts about the stated religious beliefs and religious practices of Mr. Caviezel.


Though I think Mr. Caviezel is a fine actor and nice person,

I don’t for a second, believe he worships the Biblical Jesus,


but rather, worships the Roman Catholic Jesus.

In the official email response I received the writer states:

“We have heard a very strong testimony where Jim gave Christ all the glory for his salvation. We personally feel that we can utilize this man for furthering the gospel here at Cornerstone.” (Cornerstone email)

The question I have is, What Christ is Jim talking about?


And! Is this Christ the Christ of the Bible?



I did a little research and found some interviews that Mr. Caviezel gave after the filming of his most popular film,

The Passion of The Christ.


And it is VERY CLEAR that the Christ Jim speaks of is not the Christ of the Bible.




This reminds me of a question that was asked of Pastor Linn during the Q&A service a year ago.

The question was “Should I allow my daughter to date a Mormon.”


And Pastor Linn responded in a very Biblical way: “WHO IS THEIR JESUS?”


Thus I ask the same question of Jim Caviezel Who is your Jesus?


Let’s look at what he has said about his Jesus, and ask yourself if this is the “testimony” we should allow to be shared at Cornerstone!

In an interview with Epiphany back in 2005 Jim Caviezel was asked about the challenges and difficulty of sitting through 12 hours of make up.


Mr. Caviezel responded that to endure the struggles he prayed the Rosary to the Virgin Mary.



If he Jim knew the Biblical Jesus he would know he can go directly to the Lord. He states:

“I had to pray the Rosary. I prayed all of the Rosary throughout the make-up process.



You start to nod off, and you know, they have to “Jim, Jim. Wake up, Jim.”




http://epiph.blogspot.com:80/2005/02/interview-with-jim-caviezel.html

Question? If you know the Biblical Jesus why would you be contacting a deceased person to garner spiritual and physical strength?


The Biblical God forbids us from praying to dead people and or contacting familiar spirits. (Deut. 18)

The Rosary prayer is in complete violation of LEVITICUS 20:6:

The person who turns to the spirits OF THE DEAD and familiar spirits to commit prostitution by going after them


I will set my face against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people. (also Deuteronomy 18:11)




When a person prays the Rosary he/she is asking for the deceased human, Mary, to plead their case before her son Jesus.


But this is completely unbiblical; we can, however, go directly to God through Jesus Christ.

“For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself being human.” (1Tim 2:5)

Jim, in the same interview, shared further his unbiblical way of contacting Jesus. He states,

“Caviezel: My prayer was this: the only reason I did it was for the conversion of the world.

That’s what I asked for; number one for conversion, that this would do that for people.




Number two, that they don’t see me, they only see Jesus; that’s what I asked for.



And I prayed the Rosary incessantly to basically get Our Lady to guide me to her Son.”



http://epiph.blogspot.com:80/2005/02/interview-with-jim-caviezel.html



IF HE KNOWS JESUS why does he need Mary to “guide” him to Jesus?

Again, Mary was just a mortal woman and is not God or another savior.


She can’t guide anyone to the Biblical Jesus.


Mr. Caviezel is again in violation of Leviticus 20:6.


According to Jim, Jesus can be contacted by prayers to Jesus’ mother—


THIS IS NOT THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE AND A DIFFERENT JESUS ALTOGETHER and a perversion of the Gospel of Christ that Paul warned about (Galatians 1:6-9)

But here is the reason Mr. Caviezel prays to Mary.



The Roman Catholic Church has classified her as a goddess!


Here is what the Current Pope wrote about the goddess Mary while he was a Cardinal and stands as official Roman Catholic doctrine:

“By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the ‘Mother of Mercy, ‘THE ALL-HOLY ONE’.”


(Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 644, para. 1020)

To give the title of God, “The All-Holy One”, to Mary is total blasphemy.



Second, we can only offer ourselves as sinners to Christ Jesus alone.


Mr. Caveizel doesn’t seem to understand that Jesus told his people, “My glory will I not give to another” (Isaiah 42:8)

“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

also applies to Mary.



She was a sinful and mortal like all of us—why then does our guest speaker pray to her?




In this same interview he mentions doing the Rosary non-stop with Mel Gibson:

Caviezel: “Hey Mel, before we lunch today, you want to pray the Rosary?” “O.K.”


I’ll go over [to Mel] and people are thinking we’ve been talking for a while as the camera’s being set up, we did a decade of the Rosary.

http://epiph.blogspot.com:80/2005/02/interview-with-jim-caviezel.html



When we are saved Jesus calls us out of darkness and into his “marvelous light” as 1 Peter 2:9 states,


we wouldn’t be contacting the dead so they can go to Jesus on our behalf.






By so doing seems to indicate we are worshiping at the alter of a false Jesus.


God is not a God of confusion!

Hebrews 7 clearly tells us that by the sacrifice of the living high priest


Jesus Christ– we can go directly to Him, to the throne of God.

If Mr. Caviezel has truly accepted the Biblical Jesus as his Lord and Savior why would he turn to occult magic talismans for strength?


Talismans of any sort are believed to drive their power from the spirit world.


The Biblical Jesus condemns this practice,

but we find Jim admitting to this practice:




Here are two different interviews where Jim admits using magic Catholic talismans:

Caviezel: I should go for confession as often as possible…So, the confession was the preparation for the Eucharist.


Ivan Dragicevic and his wife Lorraine gave me a piece of the true cross. I kept this on me all the time.


They made a special pocket in my clothes for it.


I also had relics of Padre Pio, St. Anthony of Padoua, Ste Maria Goretti, and saint Denisius, the Patron saint of Actors. (Interview with Fr. Mario Knezovic in Medjugorje on December 6th, 2003)


Caviezel: Every relic I asked for, I got; I had them in my loincloth.



I had St. Francis of Assisi, I had St. Maria Goretti, and,


who else did I have, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Padre Pio.


Even Anne Catherine Emmerich even though she’s just blessed right now,


she’s a big inspiration; and two pieces of the Cross.

http://epiph.blogspot.com:80/2005/02/interview-with-jim-caviezel.html

Do you know who Anne Catherine Emmerich is?


She is a Roman Catholic mystic who was in contact with demonic spirits.


These apparitions appeared to her at times as Mary.


Thus she spoke often of what are known as The Apparitions of Mary. She also claimed to have remotely viewed the death of Christ.

By most standards she would be accused of dabbling in the occult


being that she entertained demonic spirits pretending to be Mary and allowing them to show her so-called visions of the past.


When Jim asks for “relics” he is speaking of items that carry some mystical magical power that influences the individual in possession of the “relic”.


This is forbidden by God in Deuteronomy 18: 9-14.



This same spirit world where Anne found her “spirits” is where Mr. Caviezel was drawing his strength–hmmm.


All the deceased saints Jim speaks about according to the Catholic Church, are spirits he can commune with to plead his case before Christ.

During an interview in Europe Mr. Caviezel admitted that he came to believe in the apparitions of Mary based on a GOOD FEELING.


He states,

“I was in seventh grade and our priest showed us a film of the children during an apparition. (visions of Mary) …


When I came, I knew immediately - from what I was feeling in my heart - that it was real. I haven’t seen signs or anything, but -

I have been a Catholic for my whole life and I had never felt in confession as I felt when I was here.


It was a tremendous healing.” (Interview with Fr. Mario Knezovic in Medjugorje on December 6th, 2003)



In the Catechism of the Catholic Church p. 250 is a section titled, “Communion With The Dead.”

This section glorifies and encourages the reader to pray to the approved list of deceased people.


The Biblical Jesus does not respond through deceased humans, talismans or mediums of any kind.


This leaves the individual using such means open to demonic deception.




“Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings.” (1Timothy 4:1)


Question?


When was the last time any one on staff at Cornerstone pulled out a magic talisman to find comfort and strength that Jesus offers?



Never I’m sure. We don’t need to, and have been commanded not to.


We have direct access to our Lord JESUS CHRIST through prayer!



The other part of the email response I received from Cornerstone stated the following:

“…Jim gave Christ all the glory for his salvation”

I’m going to assume that Cornerstone is telling me that Jim claims that he is saved by grace.


But knowing that he is a confessed Roman Catholic shouldn’t we dig a little below the surface ask what he means by “saved by grace”?


The Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent condemned salvation by faith alone as an anathema:




“If anyone shall say that by faith alone the sinner is justified, so as to understand that nothing else is required to cooperate in the attainment of the grace of justification, and that it is in no way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will: let him be anathema [cursed].”(Council of Trent, 1547)



The reason the Roman Catholic church condemns salvation by FAITH ALONE is the doctrine that justification is an “on-going process” and a person only gets grace as he/she performs the Roman Catholic Sacraments.


Therefore, grace must be earned by continually performing these sacramental rituals, namely the Eucharist—the literal eating of the flesh of Jesus and blood of Jesus.

Some Catholics call this “saved by grace” due to the fact that Jesus has put this grace process in place—but this is not Biblical and is a different gospel.


The Catholic Church defines grace as “sacramental grace”:

“The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation.



Sacramental grace is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, p 292)

This is also unbiblical. Jesus Christ promised the Holy Spirit to those who have faith in him and confess him as Lord.


The power of the Holy Spirit has nothing whatsoever to do with religious “rituals”.


We are justified by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone.

I wish the below questions were asked of Mr. Caviezel prior inviting him to speak.

My heart tells me that he could not answer the following without exposing his devotion to the Catholic Jesus,

Catholic grace via works, the belief in magic talismans, and devotion to the apparitions of the Virgin Mary.


If today he now denounces all of that and has been saved by the Biblical Jesus(meaning no sacraments)

I say hallelujah! But has anyone asked the following questions to be sure?

1. Which Jesus does Jim worship? The Biblical Jesus or the Roman Catholic Jesus?

2. Does Jim define “grace” like Paul does Ephesians 2:8-9 (grace ‘alone’, Jesus ‘alone’ or does he define it as grace received via the Roman Catholic sacraments—‘conferred grace’?

3. Does he denounce the apparitions of Mary, veneration of saints, The Pope as the Vicar of Christ and the whole papal system of works as a false religion?

4. Does he now denounce the use of magic talismans as a means to experience God in a direct and unbiblical way?

Please know that I love the Catholic people.


Most of my family is Catholic.

They are precious to God, but any gospel other than the one preached by Jesus

and his apostles is not of God!


Thus we must stand firm against it and any system that preaches another Jesus.

Just two nights ago both my wife and I met a wonderful couple and their daughter at Concerned Christians.

This family was going to be baptized into the Mormon Church on Saturday, but thanks to the Lord, they wanted to meet with us to discuss some issues they had with Mormonism.

During our conversation we discussed the “POWER” that is felt from a Mormon’s testimony of Jesus.

We explained how deceptive the heart can be and how we must TEST THE SPIRITS (1 John 4:1) and beware of feelings etc.

Thankfully they are not going to join the Mormon Church.

But I think you can see where I’m coming from here—the devil lies in the details!

I plead with you Elders and leaders of Cornerstone PLEASE don’t allow Mr. Caviezel to speak.


Though he is a good actor and nice person,


his statements and religious practices prove he worships at the feet of a different Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible.

Jim may have a “zeal” for God, but is that zeal is not based on “knowledge” of the Biblical Jesus. (Romans 10:1) (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)

In Christ Alone.



http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=608