Hebrews 4:14-16: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
A dreadfully sad event took place in Ulster late last month as a large-scale ecumenical convention took place in our little land, blessed so gloriously in times past by God.
The 38th annual ecumenical meeting of the Focolare Movement took place in Belfast, Larne and other venues across Northern Ireland from 21 to 25 October.
The Focolare Movement is a grouping we have previously mentioned on ‘Protestant Revival’.
We did so in April last year when highlighting the blasphemous Ballycastle Prayer Partnership which operates out of Ballycastle Presbyterian Church, on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
At that time we highlighted how Ballycastle Presbyterian Church had, in 2014, played host to a Service of Prayer for Christian Unity as part of the Focolare Movement’s Mariapolis.
This is how we described it at that time: “The Focolare Movement is a Roman Catholic movement whose chief goals are ‘to cooperate in the consolidation of unity in the Christian world, with individuals and groups, movements and associations; to contribute to full communion with Christians of different churches; and to work towards universal brother / sisterhood of all peoples, regardless of religious beliefs’.
“Pope Francis, speaking in relation to the grouping, has said: “The Work of Mary, that everyone knows as the Focolare Movement…”
“It is another method by which the Roman Catholic Church worships Mary and the Focolare Movement’s Mariapolis is a medium by which this is carried out. Mariapolis means “city of Mary” and wherever the event is held, that place becomes a “city of Mary”.
“Therefore, by celebrating this God defying festival, Ballycastle Presbyterian Church made itself part of the “city of Mary”. What utter blasphemy!”
So now, in late October 2019, we had this same Mary worshipping organisation running an ecumenical conference which was cheered on by EVERY major church in Northern Ireland.
Obviously, the Romanists were supporting it as they are ardent practitioners of Mariolatry.
So, too, was the Church of Ireland as the Most Ecumenical Archbishop Richard Clarke (pictured, above) “paid tribute to this important type of dialogue” with Rome, while his comments were “endorsed by the Rev Brian Anderson, President of the Irish Council of Churches, the Rev Sam McGuffin (pictured, top), President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and the Very Rev Ivan Patterson, present at the meeting on behalf of the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland”.
So there you have it, this article we have quoted from the Church of Ireland Diocese of Connor confirms that the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church have given their endorsement of ecumenical fellowshipping with a group which exists to exalt Mary.
The Focolare Movement organised ecumenical conference featured 30 bishops from 18 different churches in 14 countries and, during their stay here, “the bishops visited Fitzroy Presbyterian Church, Belfast; the Methodist Skainos Centre at the East Belfast Mission; the Corrymeela Community and toured Belfast city.”
Fitzroy Presbyterian Church is the clerical domain of ardent ecumenist Rev Steve Stockman, co-organiser, along with a Jesuit priest, of the ungodly Four Corners Festival in Belfast each year, and it is no surprise to see him hosting such an event.
The Corrymeela Community is the home of ecumenism in Northern Ireland and is an objectionable organisation, specifically set up to destroy doctrinal difference between traditionally Protestant churches and the false religion of Romanism.
And the Methodist Skainos Centre at the East Belfast Mission is also interesting.
The East Belfast Mission’s Chief Executive, Andrew Irvine (pictured, below) was the speaker at an ecumenical Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service in a Romanist chapel in Lurgan in County Armagh in January.
And the East Belfast Mission’s Skainos Centre was the venue a month later for the visit of a Jesuit priest, a ‘Father’ Gregory Boyle, during the aforementioned Four Corners Festival.
The report on the Diocese of Connor website continues and says: “On the evening of 24 October, the bishops participated at an uplifting Choral Evensong in St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast. Immediately afterwards they walked together to the neighbouring Roman Catholic Church of St Patrick, Donegall Street. There, during a moving ecumenical service, a solemn commitment in the light of Jesus’ New Commandment, to love one another’s church and consider each other’s crosses as their own, so that all may be one.”
They really were taking in the tour of the most notorious and noxious religious venues to God, adding in St Anne’s Cathedral, second only to Corrymeela for its wretched rejection of God’s Word in the ecumenical deceit, and then paid a visit to a Romanist chapel for a “moving ecumenical service”.
Ludicrously and, indeed, wilfully changing the Bible to suit their ungodly ends, the report states that these bishops made “a solemn commitment in the light of Jesus’ New Commandment, to love one another’s church”.
Sorry, but where was that in what Jesus said?
These clerical deceivers are clearly distorting and abusing Matthew 22:39, which says: “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Where does Jesus say to love other people’s churches? Where does He say that we are to love a church which rejects His Word? This is deliberate twisting of the Bible.
Indeed, it is more than twisting, it is downright falsehood.
But upon such lies the ecumenical movement has always been built, for God is truth and their schemes are not built on God.
Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said in John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
God the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and it is clear those behind and supporting such initiatives are not being led by the Holy Spirit, but rather are teaching for doctrines things which are at variance with God’s Word.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 warns of this. It says: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron”.
These religious leaders have departed from the faith and are speaking their lies in hypocrisy and feel not the slightest hint of guilt about it, as their consciences are seared.
They are giving themselves over to the blasphemies of the Roman Catholic Church and encouraging unity with Rome.
One of the chief blasphemies of Rome is its teaching that we ought to pray to Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, and this unbiblical exaltation of a saved, yet sinful woman, is a key foundational principal of the Focolare Movement which organised this ecumenical shindig.
There is NO Biblical justification for praying to any other than God.
Indeed, in one of the great prayer meetings of the book of Acts, Mary is recorded as being in attendance. Did any of the 120 or so other attendees address their prayers to Mary? Of course not.
Mary was part of the group addressing their prayers and petitions to God, whom Mary herself called “my Saviour”.
Acts 1:13-14 says: “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”
They continued in “one accord”, there was no disharmony, nobody was praying at crossed purposes to different people.
What a blasphemy it is and what a disgrace it is to fellowship with and endorse the ecumenical dialogue being carried out by the Focolare Movement.
Yet this is what Most Ecumenical Richard Clarke, head of the Church of Ireland, has done.
Yet this is what Rev Sam McGuffin (perhaps Rev Sam McBluffin would be better, as he appears to only he purporting to be a minister of the gospel by endorsing such falsehood), head of the Methodist Church in Ireland, has done.
Yet this is what Rev William Henry, head of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, has allowed to be done in his name by one of his denomination’s ministers, Very Rev Ivan Patterson.
Dear reader who may still be caught up in these mainstream churches in Ulster, don’t you see that these men are not putting the service of God first? Rather they are prioritising ecumenical compromise and fellowship with those who blaspheme God and His Word over and above the almighty God of heaven.
Let us be that “peculiar people” as Peter, under the inspiration of God, described it, let us be separated unto Christ.
We are instructed to “go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach” (Hebrews 13:13).
There is no true unity or peace in refusing to separate from churches which have overthrown the Word of God.
Those who deny God and engage in ecumenical sell-out of their glorious Protestant heritage are the schismatics, for they are the ones who are causing the division by dividing themselves from Christ.
Let us then cleave to God rather than to institutions which may well mean much to us, and it is understandable that they may well do.
But let us be so determined to be separated unto Christ that nothing will stop us from cleaving to him.
Paul said in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Look at the lengths and the depths of Christ’s love for the believer, do we not owe it to Christ to have a determination to, as much as in us lies, be similarly devoted to Him?
Let us even choose faithfulness to God over familiarity with and fondness to our church, should that be a denomination which has deserted Him and done despite to His cause.
2 Corinthians 6:17: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you”.
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