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UK Ecumenical Apostacy Hope08 At the Apollo Theatre November 28, 2008 A large Hope 08 event was organised at the famous Apollo Theatre in Manchester. Hundreds of young kids were in attendance, many coming as part of of large groups travelling in by coach from various parts of the North of England. We had decided that it would be more important to distribute Gospel Tracts and preach the Gospel message to the youth as they were too young to appreciate our stand against ecumenism and interfaith dialog. This we did. As Miguel began to preach John went along the large queue that had formed at the side of the theatre handing out Gospel tracts to the people in the line—amongst whom where several adults here and there. After John had gone along the lines of people he proceeded to the pavement at the side of the theatre where most of the coaches and cars were directed to drop off their passengers. Most people took the tracts, some of the adults smiled and were happy to take them and have their young people take them. What we found very disquieting was the amount of young girls dressed in short skirts and shorts, with very skimpy tops. Firstly, the weather was absolutely freezing, but mainly because it is obvious that their youth leaders are not teaching them about the need for modesty in attire. (This is hardly surprising because a number of the female performers themselves do dress immodestly). Soon after Miguel began preaching he was approached by a Police Officer and a Community Support Officer. The Police officer had asked Miguel to desist from preaching. Miguel had stated that he was reading from the Bible, at which the Officer stated that Miguel had not. In fact he stated that Miguel was against Christ, against the Gospel and was an “antichrist.” It seems obvious where he had got this idea from. Event organisers came out to challenge Miguel during the evening accusing him of being against God, even telling the young people not to listen to him as he was, “a nutcase”. A few young people came to talk with him, a couple of young girls in particular had come under conviction but were quickly pulled away by an adult. It has been a common accusation levelled against us that because we are opposed to Hope 08 we are, therefore, opposed to the Gospel message and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are constantly denying this, our stance is against the Hope 08 initiative which overtly promotes false unity within Ecumenism and the notion of Interfaith Dialogue. These things undermine the very Gospel itself. One youth leader was saying that we needed to do more than simply preach the Gospel, we also needed to “make disciples.” How strange that allowing people to harbour the misconception that one can be a follower of Christ and yet remain a practising Roman Catholic can be considered “Making Disciples”! Apparently we are living in a “Post Modern Culture” so that we need to speak “in a language that people can understand.” Do none of these young people speak English? It is very apparent that the vision of evangelism that the supporters of Hope 08 have is one of “Emerging Church” ideology. No longer is sin seen as a rebellion and transgression of God's Law, it is redefined as simply “anything that comes between people and God.” Such redefinition of the scriptures simply lessens the impact of the reality of sin and its consequences. It brings a false notion of God's Grace, mercy and forgiveness. The seriousness of sin is what drove Christ to endure such suffering and, ultimately, a tortuous death on the Cross. It necessitated His sacrifice for us to be reconciled to the Father. God is no longer seen to be feared, His anger is no longer taken seriously! People are no longer coming under conviction of sin and contrition for sin! They are induced to simply repeat a “sinner's prayer” and start “Going to church” and begin to attend a bunch of meetings! Yes it's all about faith, but the faith that the Holy Spirit speaks of in the New Testament is a faith that endures. When truly tested, as the faith of all of us will be in the coming times, will their faith endure? When the rock music is silenced, when the big gatherings are no longer permitted, when the technology is no longer working, when even the Bible is a forbidden book or when people are told that they must NOT preach the Gospel—how many of these youngsters will be ready? “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Article Written by John L. Hayworth on behalf of First Plumbline Apologetics |
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