Liberator-May 2002

What’s New

“And proclaim liberty throughout all the land…”—Leviticus 25:10

 

The Liberator

March-May 2002: Volume XI, Number 2

 

Beloved Friends,

            Hallelujah! Thank God for the many ways in which He has blessed us. We also praise Him for your faithfulness as well, who pray for us and support us in so many ways.

            It has been a busy few months, and we do apologize for the delay in this newsletter. Frankly, part of the problem is that we lacked the funds to pay our printer for the last newsletter. But finally, praise God, a couple of people came through with gifts which enabled us to pay those important bills and get going again.

            Bill has been ministering a lot, speaking in Florida, Sioux City, Iowa, California and (just recently) Topeka. Check out our brand-new “improved“ Harry Potter video (see page 4) that is longer and full of brand new information.

            As always, we thank you for your prayers and support! Like many ministries, we have really been struggling financially since 9/11. We get dozens of requests for free materials every month and sometimes we just cannot afford to respond. This is heart-breaking, but when the postage is gone and the printer needs to be paid, we just have to get on our knees and cry out to God.

            If you are not already a regular supporter, please pray about becoming one. We can use all the prayers and financial support we can get, especially now. Remember, God uses you to bless us so that we can minister to others. Please pray and support us, so that we can be there for others when they need our ministry!

Pray for Revival,

Bill and Sharon Schnoebelen

 

“Idol Shepherds”

by William Schnoebelen

 

Luke 17:2   It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

 

It was a little less than a year ago, in our July newsletter, that we premiered the article (and tract) called “Forbidding to Marry.” It discussed the dangers of a mandatory celibate clergy in the Vatican, along with an apparently high  level of perversion in the priesthood.

 

We warned at that time about the growing problem of pedophile priests and the dozens, perhaps hundreds of young people being victimized by them. In the past months, the story has exploded all over the media and created an unprecedented crisis in the US Roman church.

 

While the hundreds who have been traumatized by priests are bad enough, the response of the hierarchy has been appalling! Bishops and cardinals seem more interested in protecting “Mother Church” than in protecting the most innocent members of their flocks!

 

Society uniformly condemns the molestation of children as one of the most profound evils imaginable. Most parents would die to protect their children from this.

 

Yet in most cases,  these parents entrusted their children to the care of a church which treated them horribly. Great personal sacrifice is involved in sending one’s child to a parochial school. To then have a priest  abuse their child is unbearable! The question needs to be asked, not only of the predators, but of the hierarchy itself: “Do you really believe what you teach your people??”

 

Behind the Beauty

 

Jesus Christ rebuked the religious leaders of His time in no uncertain terms for this kind of despicable behavior:

 

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.—Matt. 23:27-28

 

A simple definition of a hypocrite is one who says one thing and then does the opposite. The Roman church appeared very “beautiful” outwardly, with its lush vestments and lavish basilicas. It preached strict morality with which no Christian could argue. It stood for marital fidelity and against homosexuality and abortion. It claimed to protect children from the evils of secular education and to guard the chastity of its women.

 

However, in practice, it appears to have done just the opposite. The fact is now being openly discussed that around 60% of the Roman clergy in the US are homosexuals. Evidently, hundreds of Catholic children (of both sexes) have been violated and traumatized.

 

Less talked about is the fact that many priests commit adultery by having sex with married women in their parishes. At least these acts are between consenting adults, but they are sinful. This is still abusive because the priest is in a position of power over the women in his parish, and uses that to his advantage upon occasion.

 

Additionally, as we documented in our July 2001 newsletter, hundreds of Catholic nuns in Third World countries are being raped and abused by priests there every month. This is happening because the priests fear they will get AIDS from prostitutes and figure the nuns are safer. Plus, the nuns dare not talk (for the most part), because “Father’s” word is sacrosanct.

 

Defending or Offending the Defenseless?

 

The Vatican may thunder against abortion, but many are the medieval nunneries and monasteries that are built on the macabre foundation of hundreds of infant skeletons. These were children conceived out of wedlock between priests and the nuns under their authority. These infants were either murdered at birth or aborted.

 

The church is “pro-life” as long as it does not cause injury to its reputation. If scandal looms, it seems it can outdo any abortion mill in carnage. In a grisly fulfillment of Jesus’ warning, some beautiful monasteries of the Vatican church ARE built on “dead men’s bones.”

 

It has been widely reported in the press that part of the installation of a cardinal in the Roman rite includes the prelate swearing an oath to defend the reputation of the Church against all scandal. This is like the omerta (or vow of silence) in the Mafia or the blood oaths of the Freemason to protect a brother Mason.

 

This is what astonishes so many Americans, Catholics or otherwise—that these prelates were mandated by their superiors to care more for the church’s public image than for their members’ children! This is awful! For the first time in decades, the Vatican has been clearly shown to be the hypocritical, self-serving political machine that it is.

 

Why HAS This Happened?

 

Obviously, all religious groups have had pedophiles and other people with sexual problems in
their clergy. This was even true with non-Christian sects, such as the Hari Krishnas, where their leader was accused of such abominations. But in the vast majority of cases with Christian churches, when the problem was discovered, the situation was rectified forthwith. Some of these Catholic abuse cases went on for decades, with the offending priest just being shuffled from parish to parish and hush money being paid out to aggrieved parents.

 

As one of our prayer warriors (herself a former nun) pointed out, this was a form of temple prostitution. In effect, the individual dioceses PAID the parents for their priests to have sex with their children—often in the church. And the parents took the cash. The fact that the payment was after the fact does little to excuse it.

 

Of course, we cannot be too hard on the parents. They were probably raised from birth to trust the Church and were taught to look upon priests as almost godlike in their saintliness. They were manipulated by diocesan lawyers into this,for the good of Holy Mother Church.”

 

What is at the root of this terrible tragedy? Well, as we mentioned last year, part of it is the un-Biblical celibacy requirement. God made men and women to be with one another in marriage (Gen. 2:22, etc.). He said it is not good for a man to be alone (Gen. 2:18) and pronounced marriage good (Gen. 1:31). Jesus also spoke highly of the wedded state (Matt. 19:4-6).

 

This is not to say that some people might genuinely be called to the single or celibate state. But you cannot legislate this from a hierarchical position. It is between the person and the Lord. When the Vatican tries to force it, it creates an unnatural suppression of desire which easily can be used by the devil and be twisted. This is especially true because most Roman priests are probably NOT regenerated and thus do not have the Holy Spirit of God.1 Like any lost person, they have an unclean spirit.

 

This brings up the second issue, which is the perverse spirit. In the book of Isaiah, we read:

 

...let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, ... The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. —Isa. 19:12-14

 

Like an Egyptian?

 

There are few religious institutions in the West that are more “Egyptian” than the Vatican. It even has a giant Egyptian obelisk right in front of St. Peter‘s basilica in Vatican City. The above passage tells us that when people follow false prophets (the Egyptian “wise men”) the Lord allows the devil to bring in a perverse spirit into their midst. The ancient Egyptians were one of several pagan nations that had a celibate priesthood class. Though this varied throughout their history, there were many periods where women were looked down upon and it was regarded as magically potent to remain free from feminine charms.

 

This is also true of the Vatican, where women have never been allowed to have any voice—nor have they been treated with much respect. It is as if the old celibate hierarchy is terrified of women.2 The issue of homosexuality and ambivalence toward women emerges, even in the prophecies about the coming Anti-Christ:

 

Dan. 11:37   Neither shall he [the Anti-Christ] regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.

 

Even the current pope fits this. He has turned his back on the God of the Bible by worshiping with snake-charmers, sun-worshipers, Muslims, voodoo priests and such. He has also taken the mark of a Hindu deity on his forehead from a pagan priestess.  Popes have stated that they reign as God on the earth. Hymns were sung to them!

 

The pope is definitely a false prophet, since he teaches un-Biblical doctrine (one of the two criteria in Deuteronomy, especially Deut. 13:1-3). The clergy who are under his headship would be wide-open to be oppressed by the perverse spirit. This is a powerful demon which draws people into twisted ways of thinking and acting, both sexually and otherwise. It seems evident that this is the case right now among many clergy in the Roman church.

 

To do what these priests have done would require them to be under the influence of demons. Such behavior as child abuse (especially for a “holy man”) is so far off the map that it is repugnant to any decent person.

 

When you combine a clergy which is required to be celibate whether it has that charism or not with the overwhelming likelihood of perverse spirits being involved, it is a recipe for disaster.

 

Rome claims to be the one, true church—or at least in these “ecumenical times” the fullest and best expression of true Christianity. Yet its awful hypocrisy is evident in the way it has handled this crisis. The Vatican cared more for its “idol shepherds” (Zech. 11:17) than its little lambs.

 

These priests were just like the shepherds denounced by Zechariah in 11:17. These priests began almost literally cannibalizing the flock (see vs. 16). Yet the bishops did nothing for a generation or more! This only serves to show how far away the Vatican is from gospel principles.

 

Jesus warned that for those who harm little children would face exceptionally dire punishments (Lk. 17:2). Evidently, neither the predator priests or the hierarchy who concealed them took this warning very seriously.  At this writing, even the recommendations by the Vatican are even being ignored by the Catholic hierarchy in the US. Many of these victims are now adults, and a lot of them are soured on ANY kind of Christianity.  Even here, the Vatican fulfills perfectly Jesus’ condemnation:

 

Matt. 23:15   Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

 

We need to pray that God will bring these hundreds of children and adult survivors to a place of healing where they can encounter the true Jesus Christ. We also should pray that He will use this crisis to reveal to many thousands the sham behind the Roman church and bring greater glory to Himself.

 

Endnotes:

1. While there are doubtless thousands of Catholics who have accepted Christ, and probably some clergy, they are in the minority.  The very dogmas of the Vatican make it hard for their members to come to Christ in simple, saving faith.

2. Augustine, for example, one of the most highly regarded Roman “church fathers,” described women as unclean bags of feces and urine. Nice, eh?

 

 

The Myth Makers

 

Zech. 2:8   For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

 

Evidence of bias in the news media is growing, and in some respects has never been stronger! It almost seems like the media moguls look at the Bible for guidance and then stake out the absolute opposite position that they can find from the Word of God.

 

his has recently reached fever pitch in terms of the news coverage over in the Middle East. The media continue to demonize the Israeli government and subject them to a higher standard of behavior than either the Palestinians or our own government.

 

Naturally, the media have condemned the “homicide bombers” as they have come to be known.  Yet there is always an undercurrent in the reporting which says “Oh, but if the Israelis were not oppressing the poor Palestinians, these sad, desperate people would not do this.”

 

Big Mistake!

 

Even the Bush administration has gotten into the act, continually demanding that Israel treat Arafat and company with kid gloves. Colin Powell has been especially bad at this, with his continual insistence that there must be a Palestinian state. 

 

It is our understanding that Bush is getting his advice from people in the wing of Christianity who believe that the church has completely taken the place of Israel—that all of the covenants now belong to Christians and that the Jews are cast off. This is NOT Biblical.  As we document in the recent Israel, Islam and Biochemical Terror” video, God’s promises for Israel are an unbreakable covenant.

 

I believe, as do many Christians, that our nation has been blessed because we have, in the past, blessed Israel. (Gen. 12:3) If we force them into a situation where they give up part of the land God gave them to Arafat, we will be answerable to God for it.

 

This whole idea of the “occupied territories” in the Middle East is historical and Biblical fiction. The Palestinian “refugee problem” was manufactured by the Arabs as a PR offensive to justify its goal of ultimately destroying Israel. There never was a Palestinian state prior to 1967 and the Jewish people have been in the Holy Land for 3000 years!

 

Actually,  God’s promises to Abraham and his seed include huge areas of land, going north into Turkey, eastward towards the Euphrates river and south to the Nile river. Today’s Israel only occupies a fraction of the land (roughly the size of New Jersey) that the Lord God originally allotted to her.

 

The Palestinians have no more right to the West bank and the Gaza strip than I do to London Bridge, but the media would have you believe that Israel is the oppressive aggressor who has taken from them land which is rightfully theirs. This is amazing, considering the large numbers of Jewish people in the media.

 

Unfortunately, these media elite have allegiances to two higher authorities: the almighty dollar and the CFR/Trilateralist/UN crowd. The media (and even our government) are vastly dependent on the Arab petro-dollar. The networks and papers rely on Arab dollars for ad revenues and our government has gotten itself into a trap of dependency on Arab oil! Both are afraid to rock the boat by standing too strongly with Israel.

 

Imagine what would happen if some political group started demanding part of US soil. They send suicide bombers in to terrorize us into complying. Do you think our government would stand for that? Of course not. But yet they expect the Israelis to negotiate with Arafat, who is no less a terrorist that Bin Laden.

 

America needs to remember that Israel is the “apple” of God’s eye (literally the pupil!). Those who attack Israel or fail to stand with her are as those who would put their thumb in the eye of God!  Please check out our new Straight Talk  (see above) for more on this vital subject!

 

What’s New!

 

We have an exiting new video on Harry Potter. It is twice as long as our first video and was made since the film came out. It features Bill and Wendell Amstutz (noted expert on youth violence and the occult) at the International Conference on Biblical Counseling.  The video is called “To Harry or Not to Harry” (item #166 - $21.00) This is a “new and improved” resource for parents and youth workers who need a fresh answer to “Pottermania.”  Additionally, for those concerned about the Biblical and prophetic elements in the Mid-East crisis, we have a brand-new “Straight Talk on the Mid-East Crisis” which lays it all out according to God’s Word (item #168 - $2.00)

 

THE LIBERATOR

March-May 2002 vol. XI, no. 2, ©2002

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With One Accord  Ministries

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