Heaven Is Our Destination Where We Will Be ONE With The Lord Forever

Today, we are in The Season Of The Last Generation. The Birth Pains that Christ Jesus spoke about are currently under way, including natural and unnatural disasters. They will be ever increasing. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. Social, economic and political turmoil will be ever increasing, causing people's hearts to be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life. An apostasy within the Church of God is currently under way. This will all reach a climax with Satan revealing his Antichrist and requiring that everyone worship him; That every one receive his "mark" in order to buy or sell; The new currency of the New World Order, the New Tower of Babel.

Today, it is critical that those who have a heart for God are aware of what God is doing and speaking today. God is opening up His Word like never before in preparation for The Time Of The END. I exhort you to open up your heart and your eyes to see what He is doing and your ears to hear what God is speaking at this time. My prayer is that we will be able to stand before the Son of Man at His appearing, without fault and with great joy. I encourage you to read David Wilkerson's book, America's Last Call at davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com. Also, Google, Tommy Hicks Prophecy, 1961 for a view of the End Times.

Tom's books include: Called By Christ To Be ONE, The Time Of The END, The Season Of The Last Generation, Worship God In Spirit And In Truth, Daniel And The Time Of The END, and Overcoming The Evil One. They are available at amazon.com. They can also be read without cost by clicking on link: Toms Books.

To receive Christ Jesus as a child by faith is the highest human achievement.

Today, the Bride Of Christ is rising up in every nation in the world! Giving Glory to Her Savior and King, Christ Jesus!
Today, the world is Raging against God, Rushing toward Oblivion! Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation!
Today, America is being ground to powder because of it's SIN against God!

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Monday, September 30, 2013

The Retribution Of God Almighty

All sin is against God. (Psalm 51:4)
All unrepentant sin demands the RETRIBUTION of God. (Deuteronomy 28)

Abortion is murder and requires the blood of the murderer be shed.
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed;
For in the image of God had God made man. (Genesis 9:6)

The Democrat Party, the Progressives, the Liberals, the Socialists,
So called pro-choice Republicans and all who have supported Abortion Murder,
Are guilty of murder before the Living God
And unless they REPENT their blood shall be shed by man.

More than 55 Million babies have been murdered in America.
This is the greatest holocaust the world has known.
The blood of each of these babies cries out to God day and night,
Just as the blood of Able murdered by Cain cried out to God
And put a curse on Cain. (Genesis 4:11)

America's Abortion Murder has put the curse of God Almighty on her.
America is under the cloud of the RETRIBUTION of God Almighty.

America is currently DEFENSELESS against her enemies.
God Almighty is the only protection any nation has.
The SIN of Abortion Murder and America's additional SINS
Against God, His Christ Jesus, His Word,
His Covenant and His Commandments has rendered her defenseless.
America will remain defenseless until she REPENTS
And stops its corporate SIN against God.

The Religion of Secular Humanism
Has become the Religion of State in America.
It is the Religion where every man does that which is right in his own eyes
As long as the State approves.
The unifying aspect of this Religion is that is is against God, His Christ Jesus,
His Word, His Covenant, and His Commandments.
This Religion unifies ALL who do not belong to Christ Jesus.
Understand that many who claim the Name of Christ do not belong to Christ,
And are of the Religion of Secular Humanism.

A Hallmark of Secular Humanism is the acceptance of LGBT
As normal human behavior.
God Almighty rendered His opinion of this behavior
In His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19)
This acceptance of LGBT by the State of America
Is the cause of many innocents to fall into this SIN against God.
For this SIN of leading others to SIN,
It would be better for America to have a millstone tied around her neck
And be thrown into the sea. ( Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, Luke 17:2)

The Secular Humanists want ALL Americans
To wallow in their moral filth.
The Secular Humanists in their zeal for their anti-Christ Religion
Are forcing Christians to do that which is against their conscience and Faith;
Which is forcing them to do that which is against God.
Ironically, their Healthcare Law brings soul damnation.

The Secular Humanists render the US Military worthless.
They have told the Military Chaplains
That they cannot pray in the Name of Jesus.
This single act alone, puts the curse of God Almighty on the US Military.

The President of the United States of America is an anti-Christ.
He is the “high priest” of Secular Humanism in America.
He is bent on “TRANSFORMING” America into a Secular Humanist State.
ALL his energy and the energy of his Administration is toward that END.
The curse of God Almighty is on him and his Administration,
And will remain them unless they REPENT before the Living God.

America's Secular Humanist State is indoctrinating America's children
Into their God defying, anti-Christ Religion.
This puts the curse of God Almighty upon America.

America's Media provides the PROPAGANDA for the Religion of State.

America's Entertainment Industry proves the God defying, anti-Christ
Entertainment supporting the Religion of State.

Nevertheless, neither the Religion of Secular Humanism
Or Politics will decide the future of America, God Almighty will.
It is only by the grace of God America lives one more day.
America is already reaping what she has sown.
She has sown to the fallen natural instincts and is reaping destruction.
(Galatians 6:7-8)
She refuse to fall upon the ROCK and the ROCK has fallen upon her.
(Matthew 21:44)

Today, the world is raging against God, rushing toward oblivion. (Psalm 2)
America is being ground to powder because of her SIN against God.
Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)
As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!
Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in Heaven!


Friday, September 27, 2013

Hearing The Voice Of God

Hearing the voice of God will determine our Eternal Destination.
This is the voice of the call of God I am convinced everyone receives.
Many are called but few are chosen, because few respond to the call.
No one comes to Christ Jesus unless they are drawn[called] by the Father.
Those who belong to Christ, His sheep, hear His voice:

'I tell you the truth,
The man who does not enter the sheep pen by the Gate [Christ],
But climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
The Man who enters by the Gate is the Shepherd of His sheep.
[Christ Jesus is the Gate]

The watchman [those who correctly preach, teach and prophesy]
Opens the gate for Him, and the sheep listen to His voice.
He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.
When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them,
And His sheep follow Him because they know His voice.
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him Because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.'

Therefore Jesus said again,
'I tell you the truth, I AM the Gate for the sheep.
ALL who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers
[All who were not from God but claimed to be],
But the sheep did not listen to them.
[God's sheep cannot be fooled.]

I AM the Gate;
Whoever enters through Me will be saved. [ALL others will perish.]
He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
The thief [Satan] comes only to steal, kill and destroy
[That is why the world is in perpetual chaos because Satan rules the world];
I have come that they [those who believe] may have LIFE,
And have it to the FULL.

I AM the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
The hired hand is not the shepherd who OWNS the sheep.
So when he sees the wolf [Satan] coming,
He abandons the sheep and runs away.
[There will be many shepherds that run away in these Last Days.]
The wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.
The man runs away because he is a hired hand
And cares NOTHING for the sheep.

I AM the Good Shepherd;
I know My sheep and My sheep know Me--
[The true sheep of Christ Jesus cannot be fooled]
Just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father--
And I lay down My life for the sheep.

I have other sheep [you and I] that are not of this sheep pen.
I must bring them also.
They too will listen to My voice,
And there shall be ONE FLOCK and One Shepherd.

The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life--
Only to take it up again.
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.
This command I received from My Father. (John 10:1-18)

Today, we have a myriad of voices screaming for attention,
Within the Church and without.
Who's voice will you listen to?
We have a godless, wicked government
Who's laws and policies are anti-Christ;
A government that has accumulated a debt that will never be paid off.
A government that has immorally spent the future of the next generation.
A government that prints money out of thin air which is an unbalanced scale
That the Lord despises. (Proverbs 11:1)
A government that has established the Religion of State: Secular Humanism.
We have a godless Media,
That is the propaganda instrument of the godless government.
A Public education System that indoctrinates our children
Into the godlessness of the culture;
And a godless Entertainment Industry that spews forth endless filth.

We have a church with blatant Apostates.
A church in which some have altered the Word of God to suit their own view.
A church where some preach a Commercial Gospel
That ignores a great portion of the Word of God
Or claims it is not applicable any more.
A church, where many have incapacitated themselves, by their theology,
From seeing the signs of the times.

I exhort you to listen to the voice of God
That caused you to surrender to Christ Jesus;
To get that Voice firmly imprinted upon your heart and mind.
That is the true Voice of God and of His Christ Jesus;
That is the Voice of the Holy Spirit.
That is the Voice that leads you into ALL TRUTH. (John 16:13)
That is the Voice that will NEVER leave you or forsake you.
(Deuteronomy 31:8)

That Voice is the Word of God, Who is Christ Jesus.
You must be eating the Word of God, the Bread of LIFE daily;
Drinking the Living Water of LIFE, daily.

That is the Voice of the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit
When you received your personal Day of Pentecost;
When you received the Living Water of LIFE from the hand of Christ Jesus;
The Anointing of the Anointed One that teaches you about all things.
(1 John 2:20-27)
The Voice that leads you into all Truth [John 16:13];
The Voice that makes the Word of God ALIVE!

Our ability to hear the Voice of Christ Jesus
Will determine our Eternal Destiny.
As gross darkness and confusion envelopes the nation and the world,
Satan will try with all his might to drown out the Voice of Christ Jesus.
Now is the time to draw near to Christ Jesus as never before,
To get His Voice imprinted upon our heart and mind.
This is what it means to live in the Secret Place of the Most High God.
(Psalm 91)
It is the only place of peace and rest and it is out of this world,
But available to us while in this world by the Holy Spirit.

I pray that all who read this message
Are living in the Secret Place of the Most Hight God,
Where you are able to hear the Voice of God and respond.

Today, the world is raging against God, rushing toward oblivion. (Psalm 2)
America is being ground to powder because of her SIN against God.
Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)
As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!
Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in Heaven!



Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Lord Looks Down From Heaven

The Lord looks down from Heaven on the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
ALL have turned aside, they have together become corrupt;
There is no one who does good not even one. Psalm 14:2-3)

The fool says in his heart 'There is no God.'
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
(Psalm 14:1)

Will evildoers never learn—those who devour My people as men eat bread
And who do not call on the Lord?
There they are, overwhelmed with dread,
For God is in the company of the righteous,
You evil doers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! (Psalm 14:4-7)

Lord, who may dwell in Your Sanctuary?
Who may live on Your Holy Hill?

He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous,
Who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue,
Who does his neighbor no wrong and cast no slur on his fellow man,
Who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord,
Who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
Who lends his money without usury
And does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken. (Psalm 15)

Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge.

I said to the Lord,
'You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.'
As for the saints who are in the land,
They are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup;
You have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
Surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord, Who counsels me;
Even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
My body also will rest secure,
Because You will not abandon me to the grave,
Nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
You have made know to me the Path of LIFE;
You will fill me with joy in Your Presence,
With Eternal Pleasures at Your right hand. (Psalm 16)

The Lord looks down from Heaven and sees everything
That transpires on earth in minute detail.
He knows the motivation of every heart.
He is surprised by nothing.
He sees that ALL, but those who have committed themselves to Christ Jesus,
Are corrupt and not one of them does good not even one.
There is even the fool who says in his heart there is no God.
The evil doers never learn, because they are motivated by their fallen nature
And the deception of the Evil One
And reject God's offer of Salvation through Christ Jesus.
They devour the people of God as if they were merely eating bread.
There is no fear of God before their blinded eyes.

Yet, at some point they discover
That God is in the company of the righteous
And this fills them with dread; they realize the End of their wickedness.
They discover that God is the refuge for His people.

Who will dwell in the Sanctuary of God?
He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus will never be shaken.
Those who can say along with King David:
'You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.'

Those who run after other gods, which is most of mankind,
Will experience ever increasing sorrow and in the End, Eternal Hell.

Those who have made Christ Jesus their refuge will be secure.
God will assign their portion and cup.
Their boundaries are define by the Word of God.
They live in the grace of God on this earth
And have the assurance of their inheritance in Heaven
And the Eternal Pleasures that reside there.

Therefore, we who know God, give Him continual praise.
He is our ever present counselor.
We are walking in the Way and Truth of Christ Jesus;
We are walking in His Light.
We know that at the return of Christ, everything will be made right,
And ALL the evildoers will be no more, FOREVER!

I pray that ALL who read this message have this assurance
And are walking in the Light of Christ.

Today, the world is raging against God, rushing toward oblivion. (Psalm 2)
America is being ground to powder because of her SIN against God.
Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)
As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!
Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in Heaven!



Wednesday, September 25, 2013

REPENTANCE: America's Only Hope

America has become a nation in blatant defiance of God Almighty
His Christ Jesus, His Word, His Covenant and His Commandments.

America has created the false Religion of Secular Humanism.
It is now the Religion of State in America,
Where every every man does that which is right in his own eyes
As long as it agrees with the State.

America has Murdered more than 55 million unborn babies,
More than a million every year and more than 3,000 every day.
The greatest Holocaust the world has known.
The blood of these babies cries out to God day and night.
This Murder has placed the RETRIBUTION of God over America
Which can only be taken away with REPENTANCE
And the cessation of this Murder.
If America will not stop this Murder,
America will be Aborted by the hand of God Almighty,
Having reaped what she has sown.
America is currently being ground to powder by the hand of God Almighty,
Because of her SIN against Him.

The Government(s) of America has put their seal of approval
On sexual deviance, including bi-sexuality,
In direct opposition to the Word of God.

The Federal Reserve creates an unbalance scale in the eyes of God
Where they create money out of thin air,
Which is robbing from all who hold such money.
God detests and hates and unbalanced scale. (Proverbs 11:1)

America's insatiable spending
Has created a debt that will never be repaid.
She has stolen the future of the next generation.
This is robbery in the eyes of God.

The American Public Education System indoctrinates children
And young people against God
With the false principles of their Religion of Secular Humanism.
This places a millstone around the neck of America. (Luke 17:2)

The Government of America has told Military Chaplains
That they cannot pray in the Name of Jesus in defiance of God.
This is the same God who says, KISS the Son, lest He be angry
And you be destroyed in your way,
For His WRATH can flare up in a moment. (Psalm 2:12)

The Government of America is forcing, by law,
Christians to buy insurance that finances Abortion Murder
In direct opposition to their Faith.

It is not possible to innumerate all the ways America SINS against God.
America is currently RAGING against God,
His Christ Jesus, His Word, His covenant and His Commandments.
They want to throw off the constraint of His Word,
His Covenant, and Commandments,
But this effort will prove to be completely FUTILE. (Psalm 2:1-3)

America has fallen into the PIT she has dug;
Her feet are caught in the net she has hidden.
The Lord is known by His justice;
The WICKED are ensnared by the work of their hands.
The WICKED return to the grave, ALL the nations that forgot God.
(Psalm 9:15-17)

America is defenseless before her enemies
Because of her SIN against God.
Without the protection of God Almighty America is defenseless;
God will not protect a nation in blatant SIN against Him.
And in fact He gives such a nation over to their enemies.
This is the lesson of Scriptural history.

I pray that America will REPENT before the Living God and live and not die.

Today, the world is raging against God, rushing toward oblivion. (Psalm 2)
America is being ground to powder because of her SIN against God.
Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)
As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!
Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in Heaven!



Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Hell: What Is It?

Hell is the place created by God for Satan and his fallen angels
Also called the Lake of Fire. (Matthew 25:41)
Hell is the place where all those disobedient
To God, His Christ Jesus and His Word; disobedient to His Covenant,
And His Commandments, are imprisoned for ETERNITY.

What is Hell like?
The best way to understand what Hell is like
Is to understand what Heaven is like because Hell is the opposite.
A passage from Isaiah helps clarify what Heaven is like:

The ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion [In the thousand year Millennium] with singing;
Everlasting Joy will Crown their heads.
Gladness and Joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
(Isaiah 51:11)

In Hell, there will be no singing. There will be Everlasting Sorrow and Sighing.

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus there is a description of Hell:

In Hell, where he [the rich man] was in Torment,
He looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me
And send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, Because I am in agony in this fire.'

But Abraham replied,
'Son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things,
While Lazarus received bad things,
But now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
And besides all this, between us and you a Great Chasm has been fixed,
So that those who want to go from here to you cannot,
Nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

He answered, 'Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my brothers.
Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this Place of Torment.'

Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets;
Let them listen to them.'

'No, father Abraham,' he said,
'But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
They will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'
(Luke 16:23-31)

Christ Jesus said:
It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into Hell,
Where the Fire never goes out.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet
And be thrown into Hell.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
It is better for you to enter th Kingdom of God with one eye
Than to have two eyes and be thrown into Hell,
Where their worm does not die, and the Fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43-48)

[The “worm” is all the ungodly desires a person has on earth
That cannot be fulfilled by the disembodied spirit in Hell.]

It is better for you to lose one part of your body
Than for your whole body to be thrown into Hell. (Matthew 5:29)

But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the Fire of Hell.
(Matthew 5:22)

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One [God Almighty]
Who can destroy both soul and body in Hell. (Matthew 10:28)

You snakes! You brood of vipers!
How will you escape being condemned to Hell? (Matthew 23:33)

The tongue also is a fire, a world of EVIL among the parts of the body.
It corrupts the whole person, set the whole course of his life on fire,
And is itself set on fire by Hell. (James 3:6)

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,
But sent them to Hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons
To be held for judgment;
If He did not spare the Ancient World
When He brought the flood on its ungodly people,
But protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
If He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
By burning them to ashes,

And made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
And if He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives Of lawless men (for the righteous man, living among them day after day,
Was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-
If this is so, them the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials
And to hold the unrighteous for The Day of Judgment,
While continuing their punishment. (2 Peter 2:4-9)

Heaven is filled with the atmosphere of God's Love and Glory,
A place of Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit;
A place of complete ecstasy; wonderful beyond all measure.
Hell is a place of complete Torment; terrible beyond all measure.

I pray that all who read this message are destined for Heaven.

Today, the world is raging against God, rushing toward oblivion. (Psalm 2)
America is being ground to powder because of her SIN against God.
Save yourself from this Corrupt Generation! (Acts 2:40)
As God has written, so shall it be! Hallelujah! Maranatha!
Father, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in Heaven!








Monday, September 23, 2013

Pope Francis' Sin Of Omission

Pope Francis has spoken recently about the church's “obsession” with gays, abortion and birth control.

What he does not talk about, which is his SIN of OMISSION,
Is the moral tragedy of the acceptance of the larger culture of these SINS Against God, His Christ Jesus and His Word.
That will lead many to a Devil's Hell.

The first word that Christ Jesus uttered
In His three and one-half year ministry was REPENT!
Without REPENTANCE every man stays in his SIN;
The SIN he was born into and is therefore without hope.

Christ Jesus said that unless an person is “Born Again” [John 3:7]
Born of the Spirit of God, they cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
Entering the Kingdom of God is the ultimate challenge of this life;
Eternal LIFE in Heaven, the ultimate and only meaningful goal.
That is why God has given us this life;
To make a decision about where we will spend Eternity.

Christ Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only LIFE;
No one goes to the Father in Heaven but through Him. (John 14:6)
Christ Jesus is the only access to Heaven.

Christ Jesus calls everyone to a holy life,
Because without holiness no one will see God. (Hebrews 12:14)
This holy life that Christ Jesus calls us to can only be lived
By Christ living in and through us; becoming One with Him;
Having His heart, His mind and His Spirit;
Being Water washed, blood washed, filled with the Holy Spirit
And walking in the Light of Christ. (1 John 2:6)
Unless we walk in the Light of Christ we remain in our SIN.

Abortion is murder, and no murderer will go to Heaven.
Homosexuality is SIN against God as is made clear in His Word;
The SIN that lead to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Christ Jesus said:
"The Spirit gives LIFE; the flesh counts for NOTHING!” (John 6:63)

Pope Francis is ignoring most of Scripture in his speaking.
His is a SIN of OMISSION, a SIN that is plaguing
Much of what is called Christianity, today.
A SIN that is allowing the larger culture to feel comfortable in their SIN.
This SIN of OMISSION will lead many to Hell.
Every Christian is to treat his neighbor has himself; the poor must be helped
But the larger issue is the Salvation of the Soul and Eternity. 

Christ's Great Commission was that we go into the world 
And make disciples of all nations, 
Baptizing them in the Name of the Father the son and the Holy Spirit, 
And teaching them to obey everything He commanded. 
(Matthew 28:18-20)
The following is an article that was published in the New York Times
About Pope Francis and these issues:

Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control


Pope Francis' surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalized.
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: September 19, 2013 , New York Times

Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.

His surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalized. He articulated his vision of an inclusive church, a “home for all” — which is a striking contrast with his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the doctrinal defender who envisioned a smaller, purer church.
Francis told the interviewer, a fellow Jesuit: “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.
We have to find a new balance,” the pope continued, “otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”

The pope’s interview did not change church doctrine or policies, but it instantly changed its tone. His words evoked gratitude and hope from many liberal Catholics who had felt left out in the cold during the papacies of Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, which together lasted 35 years. Some lapsed Catholics suggested on social media a return to the church, and leaders of gay rights and gay Catholic groups called on bishops to abandon their fight against gay marriage.

But it left conservative and traditionalist Catholics, and those who have devoted themselves to the struggles against abortion, gay marriage and artificial contraception, on the defensive, though some cast it as nothing new.
Nobody should try to use the words of the pope to minimize the urgent need to preach and teach about abortion,” said the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, who said he spoke Thursday about the “priority of the abortion issue” at a Vatican conference.

The interview with Francis was conducted by the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, an Italian Jesuit journal whose content is approved by the Vatican. Francis, the first Jesuit to become a pope, agreed to grant the interview after requests from Father Spadaro and the editors of America, a Jesuit magazine based in New York.

Father Spadaro conducted the interview during three meetings in August in the pope’s spartan quarters in Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guest house, where Francis said he had chosen to live because it is less isolated than the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. “I cannot live without people,” Francis told Father Spadaro.

The interview, kept under wraps for weeks by the Jesuits, was released simultaneously on Thursday morning by 16 Jesuit journals around the world. Francis personally reviewed the Italian transcript, and it was translated by a team into English, said the Rev. James Martin, an editor at large of America.
We have a great pope,” said Father Spadaro in a phone interview from his office, surrounded by Italian journalists. “There is a big vision, not a big shift. His big vision is to see the church in the middle of the persons who need to be healed. It is in the middle of the world.”

The pope’s words are likely to have repercussions in a church whose bishops and priests in many countries, including the United States, have often seemed to make combating abortion, gay marriage and contraception their top public policy priorities. Francis said that those teachings have to be presented in a larger context.

I see the church as a field hospital after battle,” Francis said. “It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”

From the outset of his papacy in March, Francis, who is 76, has chosen to use the global spotlight to focus on the church’s mandate to serve the poor and oppressed. He has washed the feet of juvenile prisoners, visited a center for refugees and hugged disabled pilgrims at his audiences. His pastoral presence and humble gestures have made him wildly popular among American Catholics, according to a recent Pew survey.  

But there has been a low rumble of discontent from some Catholic advocacy groups, and even from some bishops, who have taken note of his silence on abortion and gay marriage. This month, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., told his diocesan newspaper that he was “a little bit disappointed in Pope Francis” because he had not spoken about abortion. “Many people have noticed that,” he said.

The interview is the first time Francis has explained the reasoning behind both his actions and omissions. He also expanded on the comments he made about homosexuality in July, on an airplane returning to Rome from Rio de Janeiro, where he had celebrated World Youth Day. In a remark then that produced headlines worldwide, the new pope said, “Who am I to judge?” At the time, some questioned whether he was referring only to gays in the priesthood, but in this interview he made clear that he had been speaking of gay men and lesbians in general.

A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality,” he told Father Spadaro. “I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”

The interview also serves to present the pope as a human being, who loves Mozart and Dostoyevsky and his grandmother, and whose favorite film is Fellini’s “La Strada.”

Francis said some had assumed he was an “ultraconservative” because of his reputation when he served as the superior of his Jesuit province in Argentina. He said that he was made superior at the “crazy” young age of 36, and that his leadership style was too authoritarian.

But I have never been a right-winger,” he said. “It was my authoritarian way of making decisions that created problems.”

Now, Francis said, he prefers a more consultative leadership style. He has appointed an advisory group of eight cardinals, a step he said was recommended by the cardinals at the conclave that elected him. They were demanding reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, he said, adding that from the eight, “I want to see that this is a real, not ceremonial, consultation.”

The pope said he has found it “amazing” to see complaints about “lack of orthodoxy” flowing into the Vatican offices in Rome from conservative Catholics around the world. They ask the Vatican to investigate or discipline their priests, bishops or nuns. Such complaints, he said, “are better dealt with locally,” or else the Vatican offices risk becoming “institutions of censorship.”
Asked what it means for him to “think with the church,” a phrase used by the Jesuit founder St. Ignatius, Francis said that it did not mean “thinking with the hierarchy of the church.”

This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people,” he said. “We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”