We don’t normally post news like this, but felt it was something that you would like to see.
A recent meeting of ministers associated the modern Pentecostal and Charismatic churches received a surprise announcement that pope Francis had sent them a recorded message. The gathering was sponsored and organized by the popular televangelist, Kenneth Copeland.
The message from the pope was preceded by a discourse from Anthony Palmer, Anglican Episcopal Bishop and personal friend of the pope. During his 27-minute sermon, he encouraged his audience to unite with the Catholic Church and used some Scriptures that are very familiar to us:
…the spirit of Elijah was on John the Baptist to turn the hearts of the sons to the fathers, and to turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons to prepare the way for the Lord. And we know that prophecy always has a double fulfillment. And we know that Elijah will come before the Second Coming as well…
…In 1999 the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Lutheran Church signed an agreement that brought an end to the protest. Luther believed that we were saved by grace through faith, alone… The Catholic Church believed that we were saved by works. And that was the protest. In 1999 they wrote this together… I’m reading verbatim from the Catholic Vatican website: ‘Justification means that Christ Himself is our righteousness in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the Father. Together, we, Catholics and Protestants – Lutherans – believe and confess that by grace alone in faith in Christ’s saving works, and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, Who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works.’ (applause from the audience). Brothers and sisters, Luther’s protest is over; is yours?”
He then introduced pope Francis in a prerecorded message. The pope made many statements about unity and encourage the Protestants to, “…move forward. We are brothers. We should give each other a spiritual embrace and open ourselves to letting the Lord complete the work He started.”
We cut out a portion of the video and placed it on this page for those who would rather not go to the YouTube website. If you would like to view the original video in its entirety, it can be found on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA4EPOfic5A.
We know the true meaning of Malachi 4, and because of that, these things don’t come as a surprise to us. Where would we be without God’s end-time Message? It’s more current than tomorrow’s newspaper… or tomorrow’s meeting of world churches.