There is no doubt that Pope Francis is the rock star religious celebrity of the day. His humble attitude, message of tolerance and unity, and his rapport among people have endeared him to millions, despite his tenure has so far lasted less than one year. He was chosen man of the year by Time Magazine. He has an 88% approval rating among US Catholics. Why is he so popular? And why is he being likened to a modern day Jesus?
Catholic Online wondered the same thing about his popularity, and wrote yesterday, "The secret to Pope Francis' fame REVEALED"
They like that he doesn't act like a televangelist, megachurch pastor, or a king (though Pope Francis is a king) by succumbing to the lavish lifestyle so many in his position or level of wealth take as their due.
"He deliberately lives as impoverished a lifestyle as possible, lives in a Vatican guest house, eats with the staff, and mingles with the public far beyond what his security detail thinks prudent. He has expressed, on several occasions, his desire for the Church to be "a poor church, for the poor."
This is a strange statement coming from a man who accepted the globe's only absolute monarchy worth an estimated 110 billion dollars today (source Time Magazine estimation of the Vatican's worth in 1965, adjusted for 2013 dollars). I wonder if the Pope would give away 100 billion of the money, keeping "only" 10 bn for expenses? Or alternately, how can a poor church help the poor, if it's poor? So it seems that the people like that Pope Francis pretends to be poor.
"There seems to be no end to the public fascination with Pope Francis. While the Pope is the Vicar of Christ and is expected to serve as God's representative on Earth, complete with splendid regalia, Pope Francis actually walks and talks like a living saint. ... Why does he capture our attention? The ordinary man, the person who has no hope of incredible wealth or power, sees Pope Francis who has all the access, money and power that a man can have, and he watches Francis turn away from it. Pope Francis chooses humble garments, lunch with homeless men and their dog, to ride in the back seat of a compact car, and to make sandwiches for the people who are meant to wait on him. Has the modern world seen a better example of a holy man?
Pope Francis has not turned away from incredible wealth. He is the the only absolute monarch on the planet and sole manager of the largest amassed wealth and treasure on the planet. Turning away from it would mean he declined to be Pope. "I do not seek, nor will I accept..." But no, Pope Francis accepted the papal office and all the wealth, luxury, and power that comes with it.
Anyway, that is a slight bit of background as to this new religious rock star we have on our hands. On to the article that asked if he is a modern-day Jesus, though the previous article asked pretty much the same question already. The people love Pope Francis because he brings a message the lost and carnal world wants to hear. Jesus came to bring a sword, to show the way was narrow and exclusive. To show we are condemned in our sins but He is the Good News. Pope Frances says he brings a white flag of peace, a message of love and unity for all who are all on one broad path, holding hands and singing kumbayah. To the lost, this is a better Jesus.
Pope Francis gave a speech in St. Peter's Basilica balcony the other day. It was his first Christmas message. The article below pounced on the Pope's message of love, tolerance, and unity, digging in like a lion on a wildebeest.
"In a world where many of today’s clergy seek to tear down anyone or religion that doesn’t line up completely with what they believe, the Pope is sweeping through the world like a breath of fresh air. Francis has chosen not to waste time with different persuasions of belief or religions; instead he focuses on what’s most important in the world: a message of love, hope and peace. ... While the fallen nature of mankind loves religion, since it bolsters the ego and boots one’s self esteem, Jesus came to bring the gift of relationship which includes a message of love, hope and peace; much like Pope Francis." (source)
Oh my.
The false, satirical message "Pope declares all religions are true" that Snopes recently debunked, and the real message Pope Francis has consistently brought so far this year, are hard to tell apart because essentially, the pope does say all religions are true. He even says atheists and unbelievers can get in. "He realizes that atheists and agnostics are people of good intentions and good morals with whom we want to work closely,” said Martin," explained the culture editor of 'America Magazine.'
BTW, Billy Graham said the same thing. If you have good intentions and good morals and lived a sincere life, you're in. I am not making this up.
Here is the snopes-debunked satirical Pope message:
"...because Muslims, Hindus and African Animists are also made in the very likeness and image of God, to hate them is to hate God! To reject them to is to reject God and the Gospel of Christ. Whether we worship at a church, a synagogue, a mosque or a mandir, it does not matter. Whether we call God, Jesus, Adonai, Allah or Krishna, we all worship the same God of love. This truth is self-evident to all who have love and humility in their hearts!"
It doesn't sound so different from the real pope's message, does it?
Shortly after he took papal office, Pope Francis said that peoples from different faiths are united under God, it sent shock waves throughout the Catholic Church. This is because for two thousand years, the Catholic Church said said anyone who is not a Catholic is anathema (cursed) and is going to hell. Now the RC message -via Pope Francis- has changed. Don't overlook the significance of that.
The bible says that the entire church age will be filled with false teachers and the spirit of antichrists (1 John 2:18) but it will get a lot worse by the end of the end. This following verse could be speaking to all popes from then until now!
"And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!" (Mark 7:6-9)
The Pope is a false prophet, having the spirit of antichrist, and with his popularity and his espousing of the prophesied message of peace and ecumenism we know will come to fruition in the Tribulation, he is certainly a good candidate for the Antichrist. He is laying the groundwork anyway.
As the antichrist will be, Pope Francis is also concerned with the economy, with the poor and disenfranchised, and wants to stop their exclusion from the economy and include them. Just a few weeks ago. Daily Kos said "Pope Francis has attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny", urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality in the first major work he has authored alone as pontiff," calling it "a scathing critique of modern capitalism in an 84-page document, known as an apostolic exhortation, and which amounts to an official platform for his papacy and the Roman Catholic Church."
Pope Francis is setting the platform for all the precepts the antichrist is prophesied to espouse.
We know that in the Tribulation one man will hold sway. It will be his dictates on economy, finance, and religion that will cause the entire world to worship Him and swear allegiance (except for the people who come to faith after the rapture and become martyrs, the Tribulation Saints).
It is a hard thing to see the sweep of popery come across the world with such renewed vigor. It is a worse thing to see popery, Catholicism, and its Roman mysticism intertwine within the precious walls of the Christian evangelical faith, heresies brought in by many, including Beth Moore!
We mourn for Pope Francis in his lost state, and all the Catholics who are also lost. See how Spurgeon puts it. Charles Spurgeon said of popery:
It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Anti-Christ, and as to what Anti-Christ is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not Popery in the Church of Rome there is nothing in the world that can be called by that name…because it wounds Christ, because it robs Christ of His Glory, because it puts sacramental efficacy in the place of His atonement, and lifts a piece of bread in the place of the Saviour, and a few drops of water in place of the Holy Ghost, and puts a fallible man like ourselves up as the Vicar of Christ on earth; if we pray against it, because it is against Him, we shall love the persons though we hate their errors; we shall love their souls though we loath and detest their dogmas, and so the breath of our prayers will be sweetened, because we turn our faces towards Christ when we pray.”
We turn our faces toward the true Christ, His message, and His statutes. He is the One whom all knees will bow, including all kings, sultans...and popes. (Revelation 6:15-17).