Connect with us

Headline News

Laodicean Christian Sellout Amy Grant Glories In Her LGBT Fan Base

During her first gay press interview, the Grammy winner reflected on her loyal gay fan base, how she reconciles Christianity and homosexuality, and her “compassion” for gay marriage.

Published

on

amy-grant-lgbt-christian-sellout-singer-what-mercy-looks-like-to-me
SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

You know what’s so interesting, even when I was discovering my own sexuality and meeting people that had a different experience, I didn’t categorize then, and I don’t categorize right now.

Amy Grant loves receiving adoration, praise and financial reward from the lost and dying who attend her shows. She states that “it’s a honor” to perform at gay weddings. And never once does she open her mouth to tell her lost fans that without Jesus Christ they are on their way to Hell. This interview here, her first ever to the gay press, was an excellent opportunity to tell them about salvation in Jesus. She never mentions the Lord’s name one time. I wonder how that will play out at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV)

PrideSource – During her first gay press interview, and for an entire hour, the Grammy winner reflected – with her usual sincerity and thoughtfulness – on her loyal gay fan base, how she reconciles Christianity and homosexuality, her “compassion” for gay marriage and the unforgettable dinner she shared with out ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero.

When the biggest Christian music artist of all time is doing gay press, you know we’ve come a long way. Were you kept at bay from gay press beforehand, earlier in your career?

It never came up.

But you have obviously had a big gay following for quite sometime. Why have gay people connected to you in such profound ways?

All of us sometimes feel disenfranchised or, for whatever reason, like we’re just on the periphery or marginalized. People feel that for all kinds of reasons, and by the time you’ve lived any amount of life, I think anybody has had that experience somewhere. I remember doing concerts back in the early ’80s and going shopping with some of the singers that I was working with and one of them, Donna McElroy, had to get some makeup – and she’s African-American – and I said, “Hey, I’ll meet you back here.” I ran my errands and I came back and said, “Are you done?” She said, “No one’s waited on me.”

amy-grant-lgbt-christian-sellout-singer-what-mercy-looks-like-to-me

Christian singer Amy Grant happily receives the praise, adoration and financial benefits of her LGBT fan base, but she doesn’t have the guts to tell them that they are lost and headed to a Devil’s Hell.

Everybody is outside of some circle, but what I’ve always wanted to do is have a message of honesty and welcoming, and being willing to say this is the good, bad and the ugly. This is who I am. And if I’m saying that about myself, it’s like, jump in, the water’s fine. So I love that. I love that people connect to my music.

At this point in your career, are you at all concerned about people passing judgment on you for talking to gay press?

We all ultimately need to know that we’re loved, and I think it would be really crazy if you said, “I’m not going to talk to this group of people because someone’s looking on that’s not a part of the conversation and might have an opinion about it.” I mean, my whole life has been that. (Laughs) It takes all of our energy to navigate whatever road we’re on. What’s interesting is, this last year I was invited on Monday mornings to go to a woman’s house – also a songwriter, also a singer – and just have some time of quiet stillness all together. But her house wasn’t even quiet. There were workers there sometimes, or there was nowhere to get that was quiet.

As we were sitting there trying to get quiet, she said, “It never gets still, and so I’m not gonna get all rankled in my head. I’m just gonna say, ‘Well, there’s the noise of the person next door blowing off their driveway with that really load motor. There it is. There’s the sound of sirens going up and down the street.'” She said, “When we learn to observe without judgment, then we have the ability to observe and learn, or to observe and be.” And I said, “Do you know how exhausting it is to observe with judgment all the time? It’s just exhausting.” I have thanked her many times. We could all stand to hear that.

You came from a fairly strict religious upbringing, but it sounds like there’s been an evolution in the way you see people.

Well, I don’t know. When you say strict, that’s interesting. What do you mean by that? (Laughs) I mean, we went to church every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night.

You’re right. I should say diligently religious.

Yeah. I remember when we moved to Texas and my parents went to this really, I guess, conservative church – a Church of Christ – and something incredible was happening within that church community. I remember seeing this transformation in my mom and dad. I was old enough to remember that. What I remember about our home after that was that it was welcoming … to everybody.

To black people? To gay people?

Just to people.

Did you ever feel that you had to reconcile your Christian faith with your acceptance of homosexuality?

That’s not my life experience. In the same way, if you put my shoes on, you would go, “I thought this experience was going to be one way and it was totally different.” None of us has any idea what somebody’s life experience is like.

amy-grant-promotes-wine-drink-pink-palmina

Amy Grant promoting wine on her Facebook page #drinkpink

Do you remember the first gay person you knew? Did you have a close gay friend?

Absolutely. But my first: maybe college. Someone might have just seemed theatrical or, I don’t know, effeminate, but when I was in high school – I graduated in ’78 – I had friends in high school who eventually said, “I’m living a gay lifestyle,” but they didn’t say it then. People were very private about their sexuality, period. Maybe not everywhere, but I just don’t remember, “I’m exploring this, I’m exploring that.”

When did you first know you had a gay fan base?

Probably by the time I was 18.

How did you know? Did a fan tell you his or her coming-out story?

No. Just from meeting people. I don’t know. I guess I’m kind of going, that was a long time ago. I’m 52. (Laughs) I’ve never even thought about it. It’s like saying, “There’s gray-haired people in the crowd, too.” If people come to my shows, this is what they say: “Wow, there are people of all ages and lifestyles in your crowd.” That’s what they always say. But then someone will come up and say, “You know, I saw a guy with a boa on,” and I’ll say, “Oh yeah, yeah, I’ve always had a big gay following.” (Laughs)

To me, I don’t give it a second thought. I remember the first time someone from the crew said, “I smell pot in the back of the crowd,” and I went, “Well, fantastic! Yay!” I’m so glad that just “people” are coming.

From photos I’ve seen and conversations I’ve heard, you seem to have established some close relationships with people in the Gay Friends of Amy Grant group on Facebook over the years. Can you describe your relationship with them?

When you’ve done something for a long time, there is a great familiarity that comes over the years. I will say that I have a couple of friends that I made – just because they came to shows for a long time – and I figure we must have some things in common because, of all the music we’re all attracted to, at least we share this music in common.

Weren’t you invited to perform at the wedding of one of your gay fans but couldn’t due to your schedule?

I was invited. I was honored to be invited. I have to tell you: Anytime somebody asks me to perform at a wedding, I say, “I do not have a good track record.” (Laughs) A lot of the weddings I’ve performed at, the marriages have ended poorly.

I recall seeing you perform with Melissa Etheridge for Lifetime’s “Women Rock!” special in 2000 and thinking, as a teenager struggling with his sexuality, “She’s performing with an openly lesbian performer; she’s throwing her gay fans a bone.”

You know what’s so interesting, even when I was discovering my own sexuality and meeting people that had a different experience, I didn’t categorize then, and I don’t categorize right now. It makes me realize that I don’t have any idea of what it would feel like every moment of my life to go somewhere and feel judged.

But you have felt judged, right? Judged for getting divorced. Judged for your pop crossover, even.

No, no. Do people from a distance have an opinion? Yeah, that’s human nature to have an opinion. Whatever was going on in a rag magazine, or whatever someone was saying behind my back or in a heated conversation, I was never in that circle. I wasn’t part of that conversation. I never, ever pursued one chat room. If there was an article or some argument – “I can’t believe you’re doing this” – I just never pursued it because I thought, “We don’t understand each other.”

There are a lot of times that I wind up in situations that I do not see eye to eye with somebody. And it doesn’t help to throw gas on the fire. Clearly they’re going to have their opinion. Carry on. And I’m gonna go do what I’m gonna go do.

I know you are not a political person.

Yeah, I’m not.

So how do you respond to people when they ask you about your feelings on gay marriage?

In the same way that I did not tell one person who I voted for. I don’t. I never talk about anything like that. I did tell Vince (Gill, her husband) the day after the election. (Laughs)

But I think my response is, I have had so many occasions in my life where I have felt really strongly about something – but that feeling has changed. Those feelings change about different situations, and so because I’m a public person – and because I want always to bring people together – I really do say this is a world that’s unfamiliar to me and I am always trying to observe with compassion.

This isn’t a cut-and-dry issue for you, then.

Well, nothing is cut-and-dry. You know, one of the most fascinating dinners I’ve ever spent sitting next to somebody I had not met was at a large function with my family. We were all seated with place cards; it was a large group and I introduced myself to the fellow next to me. It was Anthony Romero (executive director of the ACLU). I mean, we didn’t line up our views; I just said, “Oh my goodness.” And he said, “I think they probably thought this was going to be very funny having us sit next to each other.” (Laughs)

I just said, “Tell me about your life.” He asked me the same thing. He told me good things about his job and hard things about his job. It was two human beings that have had very different lifestyles sitting next to each other and sharing life. Given 10 choices, would Anthony and I choose the same things? Maybe so. Maybe not. But I felt so changed by that. And what I really felt was, well … I … (pauses)

What did you feel?

Well, I kept his card for a long time, and I hoped that our paths would cross again. I felt a lot of compassion for his parents, first-generation immigrants, and he described his childhood and what it was like. I went, “This makes total sense that he has invested his life coming to the aid of the people in his world that are disenfranchised because, for a whole different set of reasons, his parents were marginalized.”

And you found that inspiring?

Yes. You know what, we all face challenges in our life that we didn’t anticipate, and the most important thing is that we not face them alone. To me, if there’s anything that comes out of this conversation, in the same way that a relationship cannot be nurturing if it’s competitive, it’s this: When you don’t understand something, you can either default to judgment or you can default to compassion. Those take you down completely different roads.

Are you speaking about yourself?

Yeah, and that’s really … ahh, I’m just talking about life in general. This is interesting because I have never done an interview where it feels every question is saying, “Tell me I’m OK.” That’s what feels like the underlying energy behind the questions, and I’m just going, “That’s a powerful kind of energy” – and for different reasons. Maybe not sexuality. Because that’s what every person’s crying out for. Anyway, sometimes a good night’s sleep helps for more concise answers.

It’s just that we’re living lives that are different from each other. It’s like two people sitting at a dinner table having a long conversation. If you and I were facing each other at a different table and we walked away and somebody asked us to describe where we were, my entire view was behind your head. I mean, I’m gonna describe the place differently than you. That’s just true about all of life and really, I’m trying to listen and learn and in a way have a great opportunity to try to understand the fan base that comes to a show. I’m even more glad they feel welcome. Even more glad after this. Can I say one thing?

Of course.

I know that the religious community has not been very welcoming, but I just want to stress that the journey of faith brings us into community, but it’s really about one relationship. The journey of faith is just being willing and open to have a relationship with God. And everybody is welcome. Everybody. source – PrideSource

 

 


 

Comments

Donald Trump

THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: The UFC On The White House Lawn This Weekend Stunningly Brings Us The Ancient Roman Empire Roaring Back To Life

Published

on

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

President Trump Hosting UFC On The White House Lawn Is A Stunning Symbol Of America’s Roman Spirit And The Coming Revived Roman Empire Of Daniel

Washington has always been draped in Rome. From the Senate to the Capitol, from the marble columns to the imperial domes, from the eagle imagery to the fasces displayed in Congress, America’s ruling class built its civic temple with Roman hands and Roman imagination. The United States presented itself as a republic, but it borrowed the language, architecture, symbolism, and ambition of the empire that came before it. Rome was never as far away from America as we were told. It was carved into the stone from the beginning. Now the symbolism has stepped out of the marble and onto the White House lawn.

“For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17, 17,18 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, Rome understood spectacle. Rome understood how to command the imagination of the people. The arena was never merely entertainment. It was power on display. It was the empire telling the masses who ruled, who conquered, who mattered, and who could be crushed. The Caesars knew that the people could be governed through bread, blood, theater, fear, glory, and distraction. The arena was Rome’s pulpit, and the empire preached itself through violence, triumph, and applause America learned the lesson well, very well. The White House, the palace of American executive power, becomes the stage. The fighters become the spectacle. The cameras become the amphitheater. The nation watches as combat entertainment is fused with politics, patriotism, celebrity, military pageantry, and national celebration. Just as it was in the days of Rome. This is not just another headline in a collapsing age. This is a prophetic snapshot of the Roman spirit of empire rising in the modern West. America is not named in Daniel as the final empire, but America has carried the Roman spirit across the modern world. It has exported Roman-style law, military order, global dominance, civic religion, political symbolism, mass entertainment, and imperial power under the banner of freedom and democracy. America calls itself a republic, but it increasingly behaves like an empire. That was Rome’s path as well. First the republic, then the strong men, then the spectacle, then the empire. And finally, the inevitable collapse of all of it. The White House lawn has become the arena, and that old Roman spirit is speaking once again. Here at our 250th anniversary, our republic is fading, the spectacle is rising, the Beast system is forming. And the final empire of Antichrist is preparing for its last act before the King of kings returns to break it in pieces and set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. Is America Mystery Babylon? That’s the question we will be looking to answer here on Day 2,279 of 15 Days To Flatten The Curve!

Study Helps And Links For Today’s Podcast

We Are Broadcasting Live Four Days A Week

  • The BIBLE BELIEVERS Sunday Service

Every Sunday morning, from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST, we invite you to join us live and in-person at the Bible Believers Church here inside the NTEB Bookstore in Palatka where we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and preach a message from the pages of the King James Authorized Version Holy Bible.

OUR MOST RECENT SUNDAY SERVICE VIDEO: Faith Like A Child


• The RIGHTLY DIVIDING Radio Bible Study

Every Sunday evening from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, we offer an in-depth rightly dividing and dispensationally correct rocket ride through the preserved word of God as found within the pages of the King James Holy Bible. 

  • SUNDAY NIGHT: Our original Sunday Night Radio Bible Study, it’s from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, and we have praise, singing, testimony and of 90-minute King James Bible study. All our King James bible study programs are archived here.

• The NTEB PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST Hour

Every Monday and Friday afternoons from Noon to 1:30 PM EST, we examine breaking news and current events  in light of bible prophecy. 

  • MONDAY AT NOON: Every Monday at Noon we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.
  • FRIDAY AT NOON: Friday at Noon we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.

Your Generous Donations Make These Live King James Radio Bible Studies & Prophecy News Podcasts Possible!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

Listen to What Our Donation Angels Have to Say About the Ministry of Now The End Begins

  • “You are truly an end time ministry and I appreciate how our Precious Lord is using you to educate his very own flock. There is a lot of confusion , but your ministry is putting scripture in the right prospective. Thank-you so so much Geoffrey S Grider for standing firm and putting in a lot of hours of your time. God Bless You , also your Ministry and your family. IN JESUS MIGHT NAME.” T. Muto
  • “Jesus. I am now 64 years old and never in all the years I’ve been a Christian was I able to grow in the Lord as much as I have in the last past year. All because of our blessed brother’s work Geoffrey Grider who as the bravery of standing fast forward without fear of claiming the truth of God by the power of his love in Jesus Christ. May God bless you abundantly to the end my dear brother… ROMANS: 8: 36,37,38” Mireille Anderson
  • “I met you at the car dealership earlier this year. We spoke briefly, then you handed me a card and told me to check out the website. You left. A few minutes later, you returned to tell me not to forget to look up the website. I told you…” I already did. I already subscribed.” In that short time we spoke, I experienced from you…a total stranger…peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, compassion, and love. I am convinced that God sent you to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. For that, and for the work you are doing for the Kingdom of God, I say…Thank you and God Bless You.” Sonia Merced
  • “I really enjoy the emails and Bible studies! I haven’t found a church and enjoy your services very much! Be blessed brother!” Marcia Mann
  • “You and your organization are on the front lines in the Battle For Truth…. current events, end times, and trying to awaken a sleeping Laodicean Church. Thank you brother for fighting for us and all your teaching and insight God bless…” Daniel Cartrette
  • I just want to thank you for the teachings you give every Sunday night on radio.  You are such a blessing to me. I absolutely love your way of teaching the scriptures.  I don’t have a church where I can have fellowship and teaching, so you have been my teacher for many months now. Thanks God you are there for all of us who have no church to go to.  I pray that the Lord will bless you abundantly in your ministry, and your loved ones too.  You are such a blessing to me, and many others, in these last days before the rapture.  Thank you so much Geoffrey, from the bottom of my heart. May the Lord keep you, until He comes back for us. You are in my prayers.” Donald Godin
  • “Thank you for the work  you are doing brother.  Your page and your testimony were a blessing to me this morning as I came across it for the first time.  Thank you for the reality of your testimony and what God has done for you in introducing you to Jesus our Lord.  God has brought me, in salvation, to Himself as well, through His love and mercy and grace in salvation.  How can we praise Him enough?  How can we not share this good news!?  I pray this day for God’s blessing on your ministry that He may save many souls through the work He has called you to.  Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)” Mark and Melissa
  • “Love the Sunday night bible study. I want to support someone who has the passion for the lost like Geoffrey does and rightly divides the word of God. God bless you.” Teresa Carey
  • “I give because not many news outlets are brave enough or Godly enough to tell these stories from a Christian’s point of view. I see stories here that will not be seen anywhere else.” William Grayshaw
  • “It’s hard to find solid biblical teaching in America these days. It’s a blessing to be able to take part in a ministry financially without being concerned about false teaching. All glory to God! God bless!” Maximilian Swan
  • “I donate because you are reporting the truth about the increasing wickedness of our time, as God’s word foretold. In so doing we are reminded to “Keep looking up” as we wait in joyful hope for the Lord’s coming, Maranatha! ” Anthony Sloane
  • “Geoffrey has the best End Times News out there. I have been receiving his emails for years now and always enjoy his Sunday night messages although I don’t always think exactly as he thinks. We are all in this “boat of life” together and as I come to the end of my life’s journey here, I am more aware of Jesus’s call for us to be one as He and the Father are One.” Deborah Cleaveland

STREET-TESTED NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS:

This is the official gospel tract of NTEB, used here on the streets of Saint Augustine and sent around the world as they are purchased through our website. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the work of Now The End Begins by purchasing a box of these full-color, high-quality gospel tracts. Thank you in advance!

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Headline News

THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: Spielberg Says ‘Disclosure Day’ Movie Takes The Position Of The Catholic Church To Prepare People To Receive Aliens

Published

on

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

Spielberg’s New Aliens Film ‘Disclosure Day’ Shows How Hollywood, Rome And The Government Are Conditioning Mankind To Receive A Counterfeit Revelation

Now here’s a little wrinkle to the new Steven Spielberg ‘Disclosure Day’ movie that almost no one is talking about. Spielberg says the movie narrative takes the position of the Roman Catholic Church to prepare people to welcome UFOs and aliens into our global society. Remember that Vatican announcement some years back when Pope Francis said when aliens arrive, the Catholic Church will baptize them? Well, hello there! Steven Spielberg and the Vatican in an end times bed together, who knew? Now you know. You won’t hear this on any other Podcast, so buckle up.

“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, back in 2014, Pope Francis stunningly said Rome would be open to baptizing Martians when they showed up. Now Steven Spielberg is rolling out a UFO disclosure film with a Roman Catholic nun character and theological questions about God, creation, and intelligent life beyond earth based on Roman Catholic doctrine and teachings. Hollywood and the Vatican are not accidentally walking down the same road — they are rehearsing the same end-times script. Amos asks “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” They cannot. This Friday, Steven Spielberg gives the world the gospel of the coming Antichrist as Rome gets ready to sprinkle the aliens upon their arrive. And this lost world, already primed by decades of UFO and extreterrestrial conditioning, will call it revelation while the Bible openly calls it deception, and warns us not to fall for it. Christian, you have no idea how deep this rabbit hole goes, but today, you’re going to find out!

Study Helps And Links For Today’s Podcast

We Are Broadcasting Live Four Days A Week

  • The BIBLE BELIEVERS Sunday Service

Every Sunday morning, from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST, we invite you to join us live and in-person at the Bible Believers Church here inside the NTEB Bookstore in Palatka where we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and preach a message from the pages of the King James Authorized Version Holy Bible.

OUR MOST RECENT SUNDAY SERVICE VIDEO: Faith Like A Child


• The RIGHTLY DIVIDING Radio Bible Study

Every Sunday evening from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, we offer an in-depth rightly dividing and dispensationally correct rocket ride through the preserved word of God as found within the pages of the King James Holy Bible. 

  • SUNDAY NIGHT: Our original Sunday Night Radio Bible Study, it’s from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, and we have praise, singing, testimony and of 90-minute King James Bible study. All our King James bible study programs are archived here.

• The NTEB PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST Hour

Every Monday and Friday afternoons from Noon to 1:30 PM EST, we examine breaking news and current events  in light of bible prophecy. 

  • MONDAY AT NOON: Every Monday at Noon we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.
  • FRIDAY AT NOON: Friday at Noon we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.

Your Generous Donations Make These Live King James Radio Bible Studies & Prophecy News Podcasts Possible!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

Listen to What Our Donation Angels Have to Say About the Ministry of Now The End Begins

  • “You are truly an end time ministry and I appreciate how our Precious Lord is using you to educate his very own flock. There is a lot of confusion , but your ministry is putting scripture in the right prospective. Thank-you so so much Geoffrey S Grider for standing firm and putting in a lot of hours of your time. God Bless You , also your Ministry and your family. IN JESUS MIGHT NAME.” T. Muto
  • “Jesus. I am now 64 years old and never in all the years I’ve been a Christian was I able to grow in the Lord as much as I have in the last past year. All because of our blessed brother’s work Geoffrey Grider who as the bravery of standing fast forward without fear of claiming the truth of God by the power of his love in Jesus Christ. May God bless you abundantly to the end my dear brother… ROMANS: 8: 36,37,38” Mireille Anderson
  • “I met you at the car dealership earlier this year. We spoke briefly, then you handed me a card and told me to check out the website. You left. A few minutes later, you returned to tell me not to forget to look up the website. I told you…” I already did. I already subscribed.” In that short time we spoke, I experienced from you…a total stranger…peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, compassion, and love. I am convinced that God sent you to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. For that, and for the work you are doing for the Kingdom of God, I say…Thank you and God Bless You.” Sonia Merced
  • “I really enjoy the emails and Bible studies! I haven’t found a church and enjoy your services very much! Be blessed brother!” Marcia Mann
  • “You and your organization are on the front lines in the Battle For Truth…. current events, end times, and trying to awaken a sleeping Laodicean Church. Thank you brother for fighting for us and all your teaching and insight God bless…” Daniel Cartrette
  • I just want to thank you for the teachings you give every Sunday night on radio.  You are such a blessing to me. I absolutely love your way of teaching the scriptures.  I don’t have a church where I can have fellowship and teaching, so you have been my teacher for many months now. Thanks God you are there for all of us who have no church to go to.  I pray that the Lord will bless you abundantly in your ministry, and your loved ones too.  You are such a blessing to me, and many others, in these last days before the rapture.  Thank you so much Geoffrey, from the bottom of my heart. May the Lord keep you, until He comes back for us. You are in my prayers.” Donald Godin
  • “Thank you for the work  you are doing brother.  Your page and your testimony were a blessing to me this morning as I came across it for the first time.  Thank you for the reality of your testimony and what God has done for you in introducing you to Jesus our Lord.  God has brought me, in salvation, to Himself as well, through His love and mercy and grace in salvation.  How can we praise Him enough?  How can we not share this good news!?  I pray this day for God’s blessing on your ministry that He may save many souls through the work He has called you to.  Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)” Mark and Melissa
  • “Love the Sunday night bible study. I want to support someone who has the passion for the lost like Geoffrey does and rightly divides the word of God. God bless you.” Teresa Carey
  • “I give because not many news outlets are brave enough or Godly enough to tell these stories from a Christian’s point of view. I see stories here that will not be seen anywhere else.” William Grayshaw
  • “It’s hard to find solid biblical teaching in America these days. It’s a blessing to be able to take part in a ministry financially without being concerned about false teaching. All glory to God! God bless!” Maximilian Swan
  • “I donate because you are reporting the truth about the increasing wickedness of our time, as God’s word foretold. In so doing we are reminded to “Keep looking up” as we wait in joyful hope for the Lord’s coming, Maranatha! ” Anthony Sloane
  • “Geoffrey has the best End Times News out there. I have been receiving his emails for years now and always enjoy his Sunday night messages although I don’t always think exactly as he thinks. We are all in this “boat of life” together and as I come to the end of my life’s journey here, I am more aware of Jesus’s call for us to be one as He and the Father are One.” Deborah Cleaveland

STREET-TESTED NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS:

This is the official gospel tract of NTEB, used here on the streets of Saint Augustine and sent around the world as they are purchased through our website. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the work of Now The End Begins by purchasing a box of these full-color, high-quality gospel tracts. Thank you in advance!

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Headline News

How Constantine’s 4th-Century Religious Revolution Turned Persecuted Christianity Into The State-Backed Roman System That Became The Catholic Church

Published

on

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

The Roman Catholic Church Rose From The Ruins Of Pagan Rome As Constantine’s Empire Turned Christianity Into A State-Favored Religious Institution

The origins of the Roman Catholic Church are not found in Peter preaching at Pentecost, Paul writing to the churches, or the apostles planting local assemblies under the authority of Jesus Christ. The New Testament church began in the first century as a spiritual body of born-again believers saved by grace through faith. The Roman Catholic system, as a centralized, hierarchical, sacramental, state-favored religious institution, began taking recognizable shape in the 4th century, when professing Christianity was forcibly joined to the power structure of the Roman Empire in what can only be described as a hostile corporate takeover. Cue the woman riding on the Beast.

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” Revelation 17:6 (KJB)

The Bible knows nothing of a pope ruling from Rome, a priesthood offering a repeated sacrifice of the mass, Mary as mediatrix, purgatory, relic veneration, indulgences, cardinals, monasteries, confessionals, or a Vatican state. Those are not apostolic doctrines. They are later historical developments, many of them growing out of the centuries after Constantine. The church that Christ purchased with His blood was not a Roman corporation. It was, and remains, a spiritual body.

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28 (KJB)

Constantine Did Not Start Christianity, He Politicized It

The decisive historical shift came under Constantine. In A.D. 313, Constantine and Licinius issued what is commonly called the Edict of Milan, granting legal toleration to Christianity and restoring confiscated Christian property. Britannica describes it as the proclamation that “permanently established religious toleration for Christianity within the Roman Empire.” That was the beginning of the Constantinian shift: Christianity moved from persecuted faith to protected religion. But what looked like relief from persecution also opened the door to corruption by imperial power. Before Constantine, Christians were often hunted by Rome. After Constantine, bishops began receiving imperial favor, church disputes became matters of state interest, and the machinery of Caesar began wrapping itself around professing Christianity. That is not the pattern of the New Testament.

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight,” John 18:36 (KJB)

The Lord Jesus Christ did not commission His apostles to build a religious empire. He sent them to preach the gospel for the salvation of individual souls for the body of Christ.

Nicaea Shows The New Imperial Church Order

In 325 AD, Constantine called the Council of Nicaea to address the Arian controversy over the deity of Christ. The deity of Christ is absolutely Bible truth, and Arius was wrong. But the historical issue is not merely what doctrine was debated; it is who summoned the council and what that revealed. Even the Catholic Encyclopedia, preserved at New Advent, says the emperor “begged the bishops of every country to come promptly to Nicaea,” provided imperial transport, and supplied their maintenance during the council. It also admits that it is “not historically known” whether Constantine convoked the council solely in his own name or in agreement with Pope Sylvester.

That is a staggering admission. Why? Because that means that the first great council of the emerging imperial church order was not called by an apostle, not called by Scripture, not called by a New Testament pattern of local church authority, and certainly not by Jesus hand-picked leader Paul, but by a Roman emperor. The problem is not that Nicaea affirmed the deity of Christ. The problem is that this moment reveals a new arrangement: the emperor and the bishops now standing together in a system of church-state power. The apostolic churches had pastors, elders, and bishops. They did not have Caesar organizing their doctrine and funding their councils.

“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder,” 1 Peter 5:1 (KJB)

Peter did not call himself pope. He called himself “an elder.”

Theodosius Completed What Constantine Began

Constantine legalized and favored Christianity to enhance and increase his political power and control. Later, Theodosius I pushed Nicene Christianity into the position of imperial orthodoxy. Britannica notes that Theodosius “established the creed of the Council of Nicaea (325) as the universal norm for Christian orthodoxy” and convened the Council of Constantinople in 381. This is where the matter becomes even more plain. By the late 4th century, the Roman Empire was no longer merely tolerating Christianity. It was enforcing a particular form of Christianity as the approved religion of the empire.

That is the soil from which Roman Catholicism grew. not the upper room, but the imperial court; not apostolic simplicity, but Roman organization; not spiritual separation, but church-state union.

The Bible warned against exactly this type of mixture:

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14 (KJB)

The Church At Rome Was Not The Roman Catholic Church

Paul wrote to believers at Rome in the first century, but Romans is not a Catholic epistle. There is no pope in Romans. No mass. No Marian dogma. No priestly confessional. No Vatican treasury. No sacramental system. Paul addressed saved people in a local assembly.

“To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:” Romans 1:7 (KJB)

Notice what he does not say: “To the pope at Rome.” He does not address Peter as bishop of Rome. He gives no instruction to submit to Roman supremacy. He teaches the same gospel he preached everywhere else: justification by faith, grace, the blood of Christ, and the righteousness of God apart from the works of the law.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Romans 5:1 (KJB)

The later Roman Catholic claim that the church of Rome is the mother and mistress of all churches cannot be read out of the New Testament. It must be read back into it from later ecclesiastical tradition, which is exactly what they did.

The Bishop Of Rome Rose By Prestige, Politics, And Power

The bishop of Rome did not appear in the first century as a universal pope. His authority grew gradually because Rome was the imperial capital, wealthy, influential, and associated by tradition with Peter and Paul. Over time, the Roman bishop increasingly claimed special authority over other churches. But that development was historical and political, not biblical and apostolic. In the New Testament, church government is local. Bishops and elders oversee flocks. No single bishop rules the entire body of Christ from one city.

Paul told Titus:

“For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city,” Titus 1:5 (KJB)

That is the Bible pattern: elders in every city, not a pope over every church.

Pagan Rome Did Not Die, It Put On A Religious Robe

The Roman Catholic system absorbed much of the machinery, imagery, and religious instinct of pagan Rome. As the empire became “Christianized,” the old Roman appetite for temples, ceremonies, sacred offices, relics, holy days, and priestly mediation was repackaged under Christian vocabulary.

This is one of the most important points: Roman Catholicism did not simply absorb New Testament Christianity. It institutionalized, ritualized, and Romanized it. The result was a religious system with Christian terms but Roman architecture; biblical names but pagan habits; apostolic language but imperial structure. The New Testament believer is not saved through a church hierarchy. He is saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9 (KJB)

That one verse destroys Rome’s sacramental system. A number of years ago, Pope Francis dispatched Anglican bishop Tony Palmer to start spreading the message that Rome now believed in salvation by grace through faith, but it was a ‘failed from the start’ effort that rang hollow everytime it was sounded.

The Real Issue Is Authority

At the heart of the Roman Catholic question is not merely history. It is authority. Rome says authority is Scripture plus tradition, interpreted by the magisterium under papal authority. The Bible believer says final authority is the word of God. Anything else that is more or less is not of God.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 2 Timothy 3:16 (KJB)

The Roman Catholic system must lean on tradition because its defining doctrines cannot possibly be established from the New Testament. The papacy, the mass as a sacrifice, Marian dogmas, purgatory, indulgences, priestly absolution, and the treasury of merit are not apostolic Christianity. They are later man-made additions.

The Bible warns against religious tradition replacing the commandment of God:

“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition,” Mark 7:13 (KJB)

The Bottom Line

The Roman Catholic Church did not begin as the church Christ founded. It arose as a historical development after the apostles, especially in the 4th century, when Christianity was legalized, favored, organized, and eventually enforced by Roman imperial power. Constantine opened the door in 313 AD. Nicaea in 325 AD displayed the new imperial-bishop alliance. Theodosius advanced Nicene Christianity as the empire’s religious norm by the end of the 4th century. From that soil grew the Roman Catholic institution: hierarchical, sacramental, political, and centered increasingly on the authority of Rome.

The first-century church was a body of believers gathered around the apostle Paul and his gospel. The Roman Catholic Church became a religious empire gathered around Rome and its hierarchy. That’s the dividing line.

  • One is spiritual. The other is institutional.
  • One is built on the finished work of Christ. The other developed a priestly system of mediation.
  • One preaches salvation by grace through faith. The other binds men to sacraments, tradition, and ecclesiastical authority.

The Bible believing conclusion is plain: the Roman Catholic Church is not the mother of biblical Christianity. It is the Roman corruption and counterfeit of it. At the Council of Trent in 1545, the Roman Catholic Church offficially declared their opposition to Paul’s gospel, and that’s where things have remained ever since.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Trending