Pope Arrives in U.S.

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2015, all rights reserved.

Chapter 1

The Pope has arrived in the U.S., and there's hardly anything else in the news except about the Pope, who is head of the Catholic Church.  

The Pope received a royal welcome at the White House.  President Obama addressed the Pope as "Holy Father..."

Of course, the President may only be trying to be diplomatic, rather than making a Theological statement.  

But I believe the President is mistaken about the Pope being holy.  

A thing that will take away holiness is sin in one's life.  

And one kind of sin is idolatry.  

God's Ten Commandments are found in Exodus chapter 20.  

One of the Ten Commandments is verse 3, "You shall have no other gods before me."

But when 400 young women were kidnapped in Nigeria by the Muslim group, Boko Haram, the Pope prayed to Mary about it.  

There is no scripture authorizing anyone to pray to Mary.  And no one in the Bible ever prayed to Mary.

But praying to Mary is a very Catholic thing to do.  And the Catholics have a prayer called the "Rosary," which is a prayer addressed to Mary.  

They even have prayer beads on a necklace.  You pray the prayer once, then push a bead over, then pray the same prayer again until you've gone through all the beads.  

But Jesus said, "When you pray, don't use vain repetitions like the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." (Matt 6:7)

Thus praying the Rosary with the beads violates Jesus' instructions in Matt 6:7.  Going against Jesus' commandments is sin.  A sin committed by every Catholic who prays the Rosary with the beads for repetition.  

Now let's look at the next verse, Matt 6:8.  Jesus is still talking.  

"Therefore, don't be like them (the heathen), because your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

So it is clear that Jesus is telling us to pray to God the Father, not Mary.  

So then, the Pope sins by praying to Mary, a violation of the Ten Commandments, thus behaving as though Mary were part of the Godhead, and commits the sin of idolatry by doing so.  

But Mary is not part of the Godhead.  

The Bible teaches that there is only one God.  And God is a three-part God.  He is God the Father, and God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Ghost (or, Holy Spirit, or Comforter).  

Notice that Mary is not part of God.  

Have you noticed that any mother is usually older than any of her children?

So have I.  

But in the case of Mary and Jesus, the child was older than the mother.  

Jesus, you see, was present at the foundation of the world, and was a co-creator with God his Father.  

But when I say, co-creator, I don't mean to say that Jesus and God the Father are equals, because Jesus said, "My Father is greater than I am." (Jhn 14:28)

I don't have the words of the Rosary memorized, but I know it starts, "Hail Mary, mother of God..."

But how is Mary the mother of God when Jesus is older than Mary by thousands of years?

Mary, you see, is only the mother of Jesus' earthly body that he had during his life on earth for about thirty three years.  

It is absolutely incorrect to say that Mary is the mother of God.  

But the Pope is not just an ordinary Catholic who commits idolatry by praying to Mary.

No, he is not only a Catholic, but also the head of the Catholic church, the leader of it.  

And by praying to Mary himself, he not only commits the sin of idolatry, but he also commits the sin of setting a bad example to his followers, the rest of the Catholics.  

He is teaching bad Theology by his wrong example.  

Someone might say, "But he was born into a Catholic family.  He was raised to believe that way."

I don't think that argument really holds water.  

That dog won't hunt.  

On Judgment Day, if you were just an ordinary Catholic who prayed to Mary, I believe the Lord, the Judge of all the earth, will find your sin in doing so to be not nearly as great as if you were doing so while being Pope.  

No, much more is expected of the Pope.

"For to whom much has been given, from him shall much be required..." (Luke 12:48)

And the Pope should have considered these matters for himself, and should have made these Theological precepts a matter of prayer.

And he, of all Catholics, has no business teaching false Theology as he does.  

You don't just follow blindly in someone else's footsteps when that person is in violation of the teachings of the Bible.  

Chapter 2

If the Pope were the right kind of Pope, then soon after taking office as the Pope, he should have said, "Now this praying to Mary is wrong, and we Catholics are going to have to stop doing that."

But, of course, he didn't.  

Now someone might say, "But don't you know that Jesus said, Don't judge so that you won't be judged?"

Yes, I'm aware of that.

But Jesus also said, "You'll know men by their fruits." (Matt 7:16)

And the Pope has bad fruit.  

And the Catholic church has bad Theology.  

We are authorized to be fruit inspectors.  

Why then would someone think that the Pope is holy, in view of his sins?

Mary is just another sinner saved by grace.  

I spoke like that to a Catholic neighbor in Oak Park, IL, and he answered, "But she was a virgin."

I said she wasn't a virgin by the end of her life.

He said, "What do you mean?"

I said that Mary was a virgin prior to her conceiving Jesus, and until after the birth on earth of Jesus, but that after that, Mary had at least four more sons and at least two daughters the normal way, by sexual intercourse.  

(Mary's husband was Joseph.)

The Bible doesn't tell us the names of the daughters, but the names of the sons are, James, Joses, Simon (not Peter), and Judas (not Iscariot).  

But my Catholic neighbor's statement, "But she was a virgin," seems to indicate that he thinks the only kind of sin is sexual sin.  

No, there are many other kinds of sin.  Coveting, lying, blasphemy, stealing.

And in the book of James we are told, 

___James chapter 3
 1 "My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.
 2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body."

So then, nearly everyone in the world has sinned with their words at one time or another.  

And in Romans we are told, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom 3:23)

And since "all have sinned," that would include Mary.  It is not necessary that we know which sins she committed.  

The only one who never sinned was Jesus, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world."

The Bible says that Jesus was without sin. (Heb 4:15) 

A foreshadowing of Jesus was the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, under the Mosaic laws.  

And when you offered an animal sacrifice, the animal had to be without spot or blemish.  

But the Old Testament sacrifices have been replaced by the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of crucifixion for the sins of the world.  

A sacrifice acceptable to God the Father in heaven.  

Another false teaching of the Catholic church is when they have taught the existence of a place called Purgatory, which is supposed to be a place where people can go when they die if they didn't qualify to go to heaven.  

A place where they can somehow work it out to qualify to go to heaven.

A third alternative to heaven and hell.  

THERE IS NO SUCH PLACE AS PURGATORY, for it is written, "And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment," (Heb 9:27)

Do you get it?

You either get straight with God in this life, or when you die, you'll go to hell.  There's no second chance after this life.  

Jesus said to "Call no man on earth your father."

But Catholic priests call themselves "Father."

Another problem with the Catholic church is the pedophile priests.

And then, when a pedophile priest has been caught, do they defrock him and prefer criminal charges against him?

No, in many cases they reassign him to a different parish where he can start again with a different set of boys.  

It has been a teaching of the Catholic church that the Pope is infallible (can't make mistakes).  

If the Pope were infallible, he would not be praying to Mary.  

In the book of Revelation, "the great whore that sits on the waters" is referred to, and also a city called Babylon.

See Rev chapt 14, chapt 16, chapt 17, chapt 18.

I believe this city is Rome, headquarters of the Catholic church, and that the whore is the Catholic church.  

In Rev 18:4, Jesus says, "Come out of her, my people."

I believe Jesus is saying in that scripture that the true believers should come out of the Catholic church.  

For more on this, please see my book, "Isaiah on Babylon."  

Jesus said, "You MUST be born again." (John chapt 3)

To become a born again Christian, obey Romans 10:9,10--
"That if you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you're saved.  For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made for salvation."  

___James chapter 1
 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.
 2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,
 3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.
 4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.
 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
 7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.
 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
 9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,
 10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.
 11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
 12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,
 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
 15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.
 16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.
 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.
 18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
 19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
 20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.
 21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,
 24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
 25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
 26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.
 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

___James chapter 2
 1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
 2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,
 3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"
 4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?
 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
 6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?
 7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?
 8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,
 9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.
 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
 11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.
 12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.
 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.
 14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?
 15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,
 16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?
 17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.
 18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."
 19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.
 20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
 21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?
 22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?
 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."
 24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
 25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
 26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

___James chapter 3
 1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.
 2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
 3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.
 4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.
 5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!
 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.
 7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,
 8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
 9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.
 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.
 11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?
 12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.
 13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.
 14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.
 15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
 18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

___James chapter 4
 1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?
 2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.
 3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.
 4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.
 5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"
 6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.
 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.
 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.
 11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.
 12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?
 13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"
 14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
 15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."
 16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.
 17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

___James chapter 5
 1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.
 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.
 3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.
 4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.
 5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.
 6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.
 7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.
 8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.
 9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.
 10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
 11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
 12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.
 13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.
 14 Is anyone sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,
 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.
 16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes a lot.
 17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.
 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
 19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,
 20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.