Apprising Ministries brought you this foolish tweet earlier from the sinfully ecumenical Rick Warren earlier in Rick Warren Asks Us To Fast And Pray For God To Help Apostates Elect Their New Pope:

(source)

Now at Christian News Network in Warren’s Ecumenical Call to Fast, Pray for Cardinals Seeking New Pope Called ‘Real Tragedy’ Heather Clark brings us a proper Christian response from my friend Mike Gendron:

Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries of Dallas, Texas told Christian News Network that he was particularly disappointed in Warren’s comments.

“I’m very concerned because what this does is it confuses the average evangelical,” he said. “Right now, the Body of Christ doesn’t know whether to evangelize Roman Catholics or to join hands with them to go out and evangelize the world, [and] it’s because of people like Rick Warrren who either don’t know how exclusive the Gospel of grace is, or he’s not aware of the false and fatal Gospel of the Roman Catholic religion.”

Gendron, a former Roman Catholic, stated that Warren’s Tweet is harmful in two ways.

“Rick Warren is doing a disservice to the Roman Catholic Church because he is putting the Gospel off limits to the the Body of Christ for evangelizing Roman Catholics,” he explained. “And so, if they don’t hear the Gospel, they have no hope in ever being saved.”

“Ultimately, it’s a real tragedy,” he said before delving into his second point. “It’s unfortunate because we have a ministry that is dedicated to equipping and encouraging the Body of Christ to reach out to Roman Catholics, and it’s because of people like Rick Warren and other highly visible evangelicals that are signing unity accords with Roman Catholics … that we are getting friendly fire from the evangelical Church.”

Gendron opined that many evangelicals are wrongfully being led to believe that Roman Catholicism is “a valid expression of Christianity.” He advised that it is also unBiblical for Warren to assert that it is “God’s will” that there be a pope in the first place.

“It goes against the Bible. It goes against Scriptural authority,” Gendron outlined. “In Matthew, Jesus said [not to] be like the Gentiles, which have a hierarchical structure to rule over people, and when you look at the Bible, the authority is Christ and His word.”

“Every evangelical church is to submit to the authority of Christ and His word, and the leadership of each church is made up of deacons and elders,” he continued. “In fact, Peter, who Catholics believe to be the first pope, declared himself to be a fellow elder. He never once  referred to himself as the head of the church, nor did he ever in Scripture have the authority to rule over anybody. He submitted to the Scriptures.”

Gendron urged Christians to use this time when attention is being turned to the Vatican as an evangelistic opportunity.

“I would encourage [readers] to use this as a platform to engage Catholics with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said. “There is much confusion among Roman Catholics now. They’ve lost their leader. There are scandals that are spread wide throughout the world — not only the sex scandals, but also the Vatican bank scandal. … Catholics are fed up with what’s going on and they’re looking for other options.”

“I would encourage Christians to [reach out to] Roman Catholics and point them to the true head of the Church — the Lord Jesus Christ,” Gendron concluded. “Catholics must repent of everything they’re doing to save themselves, and put all of their hope and all of their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is sufficient to save sinners completely and forever.” (source)

Further reading

• SOUTHERN BAPTISTS ASSIST THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH TO INFILTRATE EVANGELICALISM
• RICK WARREN AND TEACHINGS OF DEMONS
• DID GOD GIVE BETH MOORE THIS VISION?