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[These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission from the author. Any articles which are redistributed by e-mail or print must be left intact and nothing must be removed or changed, including these informational headers. This is a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our primary purpose is to provide information to assist preachers in the protection of the churches in this apostate hour. If you desire to receive this type of material on a regular basis, e-mail us, tell us who you are and where you are located, and request to be placed on the list. Also include your postal address and the name of the church of which you are a member. Some of these articles are from the "Digging in the Walls" section of O Timothy magazine. David W. Cloud, Editor. O Timothy is a monthly magazine in its 14th year of publication. Subscription is $20/yr. Way of Life Literature, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277. The Way of Life web site is http://www.wayoflife.org/. (360) 675-8311 (voice), 240-8347 (fax). dcloud@wayoflife.org (e-mail)]
I received a Promise Keepers packet which has been distributed on Whidbey Island, and I am writing to share my concerns with you in regard to this movement. I have made some effort to inform myself of the philosophical platform of Promise Keepers. I have read Seven Promises of A Promise Keeper and have received Promise Keepers magazine from the first issue. I have also communicated with a number of men who have investigated Promise Keepers across the country.
The most disturbing aspect of Promise Keepers to me is its ecumenical goal. Promise Number 6 is a call for ecumenical unity. Page 164 of Seven Promises says, "We're going to break down the walls that separate us so that we might demonstrate the power of biblical unity based on what we have in common..."
This is unscriptural and dangerous. The Bible forbids me to have fellowship with those who disobey the Word of God (Rom. 16:17; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 11:1-4; Gal. 1:8-9; Eph. 4:14,15; 5:11; Phil. 3:1-2; Col. 2:8; 2 Thess. 3:6; 1 Tim. 1:3; 1:18-20; 6:3-5; 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 2:16-21; 3:5,13; Titus 1:10-13; 3:9-11; 2 Pet. 2:1; 3:17-18; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3; Rev. 2:2,6,14-16; 2:20-23; 18:4). The enclosed pages from the Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity show what the Bible says about separation from error. Promise Keepers ignores this biblical injunction and calls for unity regardless of doctrine and practice.
Promise Keeper founder Bill McCartney said plainly that even Roman Catholics are invited to participate in PK. I have the March 31, 1995, issue of The Tidings, which is the official voice of the Los Angeles Roman Catholic archdiocese. It reports that Promise Keepers is "being expanded to include Catholic congregations." It says that Christian Van Liefde, a Catholic priest, was instructed by Cardinal Roger Mahony to study the feasibility of utilizing Promise Keepers at the Catholic parish level. The article noted that the decision has been made for Catholic parishes to participate in PK because "there is no doctrinal issue which should cause concern to the Catholic Church" and "there is no attempt at proselytizing or drawing men away from their [Catholic] faith to another church."
Do you understand the blasphemy of Roman Catholic doctrine? Do you understand the wickedness of the Catholic sacramental gospel which has led multitudes to eternal Hell. I have a preacher friend who is French Canadian, and he testifies that none of the French Catholics that he knows understand or believe the true Gospel of the Grace of Jesus Christ. All of them are deluded by Rome's errors and are trusting a mixture of grace and works and sacraments and saints. He was in precisely that sad condition before he was saved when he was in his early 20s, and his Catholic relatives remain staunchly opposed to his biblical position on salvation.
Some say the Roman Catholic Church has changed and that it no longer teaches the blasphemies it held in past centuries. This simply is not true. While there have been great changes in Roman Catholicism since Vatican II, its basic doctrinal system has not changed. I have studied the Vatican II documents as well as the new Catholic Catechism (1992), and there is no doubt that Romanism continues to hold a false gospel. The following are direct quotes from the New Catholic Catechism: "The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation" (1129). "By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin" (1263). "This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn" (980).
The Apostle Paul said those who preach a false gospel like this are cursed of God (Galatians 1:7-9).
I urge you to stop promoting this unscriptural movement and instead to warn God's people to separate from the apostasy of these last hours and to be faithful to true New Testament churches. We need godly men, it is certain, but God's means of building strong Christian men is the local church (1 Timothy 3:15) and the pure Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15-4:4) not some unscriptural parachurch, interdenominational organization.
Sincerely,
David Cloud
Way of Life Literature, 1219 N. Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277 dcloud@wayoflife.org (E-mail)
http://www.wayoflife.org/
(Way of Life Web site)
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