And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:10-13)

Thanks, But No Thanks; I’ll Just Worship God My Own Way

Apprising Ministries has, e.g. in Anne Rice, You Can’t Quit Christianity Unless You’re A Christian and Anne Rice And Homosexuality, been covering the sad saga of Anne Rice allegedly “quitting Christianity” supposedly “in the name of Christ.” Briefly, on her Facebook page back on July 28th Rice had announced to the world:

I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

You may recall Rice was recently on The Joy Behar Show where she told us that she’s “been living as a Christian for twelves years and living as a ‘public Christian’ for at least five.” She spoke of her ”moral discomfort” concerning some alleged aspects of Christendom, and Rice also said that she wanted to “exonerate myself”; as well as tell the world that she “wasn’t complicent in all of the different things that Christians are doing publicly.”

So, a key issue is Rice telling us that her “commitment to Christ” demands she now moves “away from this group of His followers.” As I pointed out before, we’re left wondering; would this be all Christians in general? Nope. You see, it turns out she’s moving away from the Bible-believing Christians who are truly committed to the actual Jesus; the real One Who said — “you will die in the sins of you; for if you believe not that I Am [the eternal God], you will die in the sins of you” (John 8:24, literal Greek).

Now if Anne Rice would drop this, then I wouldn’t have to continue to expose her in her apostasy; but she hasn’t. Today Joshunda Sanders, “writes on faith in our society” for Statesman.com, tells us in her short post Anne Rice responds to thoughts about her departure from Christianity:

This morning, I read this email from Anne Rice with her permission to republish it here. The subject line was, “Yes, I understand”:

But for years I supported the Roman Catholic Church with thousands of dollars. I’m not rich as many people think, bestsellers not withstanding, but I do make good money and I put a lot of it in the collection basket. Then I find out that the Roman Catholic Church has spent millions…. millions of dollars in California to support Prop 8 to prevent same sex couples from having a right to marry IN THE SECULAR CULTURE!

We’re not talking about keeping gay marriages out of church. We’re talking about people’s legal rights in the secular culture. How did I feel about those thousands and thousands of dollars? I felt betrayed. Yes, you would think everything is just fine at Mass until you discover that is what happened to those envelopes you put into the basket right after Communion. (Online source, italics hers)

Well, I happen to be one whom God has delivered—by His grace alone; through faith alone, in Christ’s finished work alone on the Cross—out of the religious slavery of apostate Roman Catholicism, so it’s quite clear to me that Rice does not have a Christian testimony. No, what she has told us is of her commitment to the Roman Catholic Church, which has long ago placed it’s—never been changed—anathema upon the very Gospel of Jesus Christ itself. The question is: Why doesn’t that seem to bother most Protestants?

Ah, but I digress; anyway, someone needs to explain to Anne Rice, as well as the world now watching this saga play out, that “everything” is not “just fine at Mass”. My friend Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries will do quite nicely from his The Sacrifice Of The Mass: Blessing Or Bondage?:

 let us look to the Catechism for the definitions of the Mass and the Eucharist.

The Mass is…the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated (1382). The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents [makes present] the sacrifice of the cross…and because it applies its fruit…the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: The victim is one and the same. In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner (1366,1367). It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection (1524). 

Catholics are given no choice but to believe these inconceivable teachings… Based on these teachings Catholics are taught their redemption comes not from the perfect and finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross but through the liturgy of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that the work of our redemption is accomplished. Every time this mystery is celebrated, the work of our redemption is carried on (1068, 1405)…

Not only does Rome purport to continue this horrific sacrifice with Jesus as its “victim;” it dares to say the sacrifice on its altar forgives sins.

As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God. Holy Communion separates us from sin. I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins. Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy (1393, 1414).

What absurdity! The perfect and actual sacrifice of Jesus, who poured out genuine blood and died a real death is said to be insufficient to forgive all sins, but its blasphemous re-presentation on Catholic altars is said to forgive sins that Jesus could not. Yes, the Catholic Mass blatantly denies the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement that is so clearly stated in Scripture.

You need to understand that God’s Word—and He ought to know—tells us this “gospel” preached by the Roman Catholic Church is a different gospel—not that there is another one (Galatians 1:6-7). May the Lord grant Anne Rice repentance and the forgiveness of her sins in Jesus’ Name; and may He forgive her for her attack upon the Church of Jesus Christ and His faithful Christians.

And I also pray those of us who, through nothing of our own doing, have been brought into the glorious freedom of the sons of God remember, but for His grace, we’d be as lost as Anne Rice in apostasy now.

See also: 

WHAT DOES THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACH ABOUT THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION?

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: ANOTHER GOSPEL OF BAPTISM AND SACRAMENTS 

HAS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH REALLY CHANGED?

A LOOK AT THE GOSPEL

THE NON-GOSPEL OF THE EMERGING CHURCH 2.0 

BRIAN MCLAREN INVITES YOU ON HIS QUEST TO DESTROY CHRISTIANITY

DOUG PAGITT, THE EMERGING CHURCH, AND AFFIRMING HOMOSEXUALITY