Daily Devotional for Sunday November 17, 2024

Pope Francis, a political Pope! and, The Catholic church!

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2024

(John 17:21; 2 Timothy 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10)

***THE LIVEPRAYER CHURCH!!! Haven't been to church yet this week? Join me for this week's service at the LivePrayer Church. This week's message is: “The Rich Man and Lazarus!” Please visit the website at: http://liveprayerchurch.com and be part this week's worship service. Each Sunday there will be a new service at 12:01am EDT

***PERSONAL MESSAGE FOR YOU FROM BILL KELLER: “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Tomorrow is promised to none of us, so thank the Lord for the day and show your thanksgiving by serving Him in some way!

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, I ask You today to open my heart and my Spirit to receive what You have for me today. Let me hear Your voice clearly and obediently follow You. Use me oh Lord, for Your glory and to advance Your Kingdom! In the name of Jesus...AMEN!!!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: Since apx. 300ad when what we know as the Roman Catholic Church was formed, 300 years AFTER the birth of the Christian church starting in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, the leader of that church has been the Pope. In the 1700 years of the Papacy, there have been spiritual Popes and political Popes. The current Pope, Pope Francis, has been one of the most political Popes of all other than the Popes during the Crusades. This is not a huge shock since Pope Francis is from Argentina and grew up under socialist/Marxist rulers. Recently, Pope Francis stated, “The biggest challenge of the century is climate change!” How sad that the man who leads the 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide would make such a statement. The fact is the biggest challenge of the century is to bring billions of lost and hurting souls worldwide to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to live their lives according to Biblical Truth. What a tragic waste of the global power the office of the Pope enjoys in this major denomination. I have always said that if God would give me one wish, let me be the Pope for 24 hours. I would have a massive service in a location millions could attend while having it aired on TV, radio, and the internet. It would be 24 hours of prayer, inspirational music, and every hour on the hour giving people the invitation to come to know Christ as their personal Savior by faith. HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS, MAYBE BILLIONS OF SOULS WOULD BE SAVED! I know this because in the early days of my ministry that started in Chicago over 31 years ago, I was friends with a Godly young man who headed up the Archdiocese of Chicago’s evangelism office. He had me preach in about a dozen Catholic churches throughout the Chicagoland area and I preached the same type of message I preached in any other church, concluding with an invitation to come to the altar and give their life to Jesus by faith, followed by inviting people to come forward to the altar for prayer. While this was not common in most Catholic churches the altar was always full of people both for salvation and for prayer. Pray that whoever God allows to rise to power in the Catholic church after the political Pope Francis, will be a man with a heart yearning to see lost souls come to faith in Jesus! AMEN!

*Don't miss the Liveprayer TV program, airing “LIVE” every Monday thru Friday from 11pm EDT to Midnight! For details on viewing options for the Liveprayer TV program, “LIVE” or “On Demand,” go to: https://liveprayer.com/liveprayer-show-about.cfm

***NOVEMBER FINANCIAL UPDATE: I NEED YOUR HELP TODAY!!! Thanks to the prayers and generous sacrifices of many in the Liveprayer family, we have now covered the first $45,000 of the $55,0000 September shortfall. That leaves the final $10,000 from September’s ministry operations and the $55,000 we required for our October for a total of $65,000 to clear up our shortfalls and begin working on the $55,000 we will require for our November operations. OUR GOD IS ABLE!

It is critical that we clear up the final $10,000 from September since those obligations are all seriously past due. Please be praying about what you can do to help me in these coming days to get the balance of September taken care of! THANK YOU!

*******As we are now less than 7 weeks until the end of 2024, please be praying about a special year-end gift to Livprayer! For many, a gift to God's work here will help on your taxes since you are either going to give the money to the government to waste, or to Liveprayer to get HIS Truth out to the masses and save souls!!!

The Bible teaches us to “give according to our ability to give.” For some that may be $10 or $20. For others it may be $50 or $100. Still others it may be $200, $500, $1,000, $10,000 or more. GOD WILL BLESS YOUR GIFT NO MATTER WHAT THE AMOUNT!!!

ALSO, DON'T FORGET A GIFT OF $1,800 COVERS ONE DAY OF MINISTRY AT LIVEPRAYER!!! I received this email recently, “Pastor Bill, My wife and I have just sold our last rental and God told us to tithe $1,800.00 to pay for a day of your ministry. Not looking for accolades, just that you know when you receive the check. Rest assured that we will still be making our regular weekly tithes."

TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card at: http://liveprayer.com/donate.cfm or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6660 46th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible!

*STOCKS! A great way to help Liveprayer is by donating stock. The transfer can be made in a way you get the full credit for your donation without having to pay any of the taxes you normally would on gains your stocks may have enjoyed. Contact me for information about this incredible way to help God's work here at Liveprayer: bkeller@liveprayer.com

*LIVE ON AFTER YOU ARE IN HEAVEN!!! By remembering God's work here at Liveprayer in your will/estate planning, you can still help me share His Truth with the masses, be here for people in their time of greatest need, and help lead the lost to faith in Jesus even after God has called you home!!! God has led many of our friends in the Liveprayer family to remember His work here in their will. Please pray about this opportunity to continue and partner with me in the Lord's work at Liveprayer, even after you are enjoying your rewards and the eternal peace of Heaven! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at: bkeller@liveprayer.com

***Here are the social media sites where you can find Liveprayer and what is posted there: Facebook (1, 2, 3), Twitter (1, 2, 3), GAB ( 2, 3), Parler (2, 3), Clouthub (1, 2, 3), Rumble (2), TPN (2, 3), Gettr (2, 3), Telegram (2, 3), ROKU (1, 2). WE ARE ALSO NOW ON Sovren Media (2, 3), Mr. Pillow Mike Lindell's Frankspeech (2), Truth Social (2,3), and Frank Social (2,3). *Content posted: 1) Liveprayer TV “LIVE" Mon-Fri 11p-Mid EDT 2) Recent Liveprayer TV programs for “On Demand” viewing 3) Liveprayer Daily Devotional

***THE AUDIO OF THE TV PROGRAM IS NOW AVAILABLE ON MAJOR PODCASTING PLATFORMS!!! APPLE/I-TUNES: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liveprayer-with-bill-keller/id1696186297

***ALEXA! You can now listen to the audio of the TV program on your ALEXA. The first time you need to tell ALEXA to "enable Liveprayer." After that, simply say, "Play Liveprayer"

***Please watch and share the exciting new Bill Keller Docudrama at: https://www.liveprayer.com/bill.cfm

***How you can help Liveprayer! 1) Pray for Bill and the ministry team each day. 2) Encourage people you know to sign-up for the Daily Devotional at: https://www.liveprayer.com/signup.cfm 3) Share the TV program with people you know: https://liveprayer.com/liveprayer-show-about.cfm Here are the social media sites where you can find Liveprayer TV ‘live”, Liveprayer Facebook, Liveprayer Twitter, and the Liveprayer Church ROKU channel. For ON-DEMAND viewing, Liveprayer GAB, Liveprayer Rumble, Liveprayer TPN, Liveprayer Gettr, Liveprayer Telegram, Liveprayer Sovren Media, and Liveprayer on Mr. Pillow Mike Lindell's Frankspeech and Frank Social and Liveprayer on Trump's Truth Social. 4) Pray about helping Liveprayer with a gift at: http://liveprayer.com/donate.cfm

***REVIVAL TOOL!!! Do your part in helping to bring revival to our nation each day in less than 15 minutes and without costing you one penny! Join others by making this part of your daily routine! Visit the Liveprayer Revival Tool and share it with others at: www.liveprayer.com/revival.cfm *ALSO, THE DAILY REVIVAL TOOL IS MY WAY OF DISCIPLING YOU TO HELP YOU GROW IN YOUR FAITH. SO IT SERVES A DUAL PURPOSE! HERE IS A SPECIAL LINK THAT GIVES YOU THE PAST 30 DAYS OF THE REVIVAL TOOL VERSE FOR THE DAY, DAILY TASK, AND PRAYER: https://liveprayer.com/bill/revivalcheck.cfm

This DAILY DEVOTIONAL is dedicated to my mother who was 71 years old when she went to be with the Lord the day before Christmas in 1998. She and my father helped to lay the foundation of faith in my life that is the reason I have been serving the Lord these past 30+ years. Today I want to deal with the Roman Catholic Church, the church my Godly mother who loved Jesus grew up in but left for the United Methodist Church when she and my father were married.

Without a doubt one of the things I am most grateful for is how God has used Liveprayer to bring unity to the badly divided Body of Christ. Over 1/3 of those who receive the Daily Devotional each day are not Christians. Of the 2/3 who are, they are equally divided among those who go to Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Independent, and Catholic Churches. Ever since I started this ministry in 1992, one of my greatest "big picture" goals was to help bring the Body of Christ together as one as our Lord prayed in John 17 just hours before going to the cross. Dividing the Body is something satan has been doing since the first church in the Book of Acts and what Paul warned about quite often in his letters to the churches.

I purposely stayed away from any denominational affiliation, having my ministry credentials with an independent group of ministers. I also kept this ministry from any denominational affiliations so that nobody could try and label it as "Baptist," even though I got my formal theological training at a Baptist Seminary, or "Methodist," even though I was raised and saved in the United Methodist Church, or "Pentecostal," even though I believe in and have been blessed with many of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Without having a "label," during my first three years I was able to preach in over 500 churches of every denomination, racial and ethnic makeup, all over the country.

You see, my message then and my message now has really never changed over 30 years of ministry, 22 here at Liveprayer. It is a universal message that plays to people in and out of the church. "If you don't know Jesus by faith you need to make the decision for Him today. If you do know the Lord, you need to fully surrender your life and allow Him to use you. No matter what problems you may be facing in your life today, Jesus is the answer!" As I have shared with you often, when you die, there will be only two lines in Heaven, There won't be a line for Whites and one for Blacks. There won't be a line for Catholics and one for Protestants. There will be one line for those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior by faith, and one for those who do not!

In dealing with a worldwide audience of over 2.5 million people every day, I am VERY well aware of the incredible divisions there are in Christ's Body. Perhaps no division is as great as the one between Catholics and non-Catholics. I deal with this issue daily in individual cases but have never addressed it in the Daily Devotional. I want you to pray, open your heart to the words I am going to share with you, and hear the voice of God speaking to you today as I do my best to bring balance and clarity to this area of division within the Body of Christ.

Let me start right away and say that those non-Catholics who think the Roman Catholic Church is a cult and anyone who is part of that church is going to hell, could not be more wrong. I am very aware of those who teach this message of hate and division and they should be ashamed of themselves and will one day answer to God. On the other side, however, those Catholics who think that any non-Catholic has denied the faith and will go to hell for not being part of the Roman Catholic Church is just as wrong. Please, I am NOT interested in receiving your dissertations or your cut and paste emails from websites that try and support EITHER of these extreme positions so don't send them!

The fact is, the Roman Catholic Church has a long and well-documented history. However, the reality is, it is simply a denomination or group of churches, no different than a group of Southern Baptist, United Methodist, or Assemblies of God Churches. Each group of churches or denomination has their own rich heritage, traditions, and leaders. The critical point is that while each group of churches or denominations have their own unique differences in regard to different doctrinal issues, what makes them CHRISTIAN churches is the foundational element of the Christian faith . . . who Jesus Christ is, that salvation is through faith in Christ alone, and the authority of God's inspired, inerrant Word.

THE ONE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IS NOT A GROUP OF CHURCHES, A DENOMINATION, OR A BUILDING. IT IS MADE UP OF EVERY PERSON WHO HAS ACCEPTED JESUS CHRIST INTO THEIR HEARTS AND LIVES BY FAITH!!!

I was inundated many years ago when Pope Paul died if he was in Heaven. There is only ONE WAY to get to Heaven and that is by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. My personal opinion is that he is. Not because he was the Pope but because of His faith in Jesus Christ. You see, the moment you die, who you were in this life isn't important. As the old adage goes, it is Who you know! The only thing that matters the moment you die is, DO YOU KNOW JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOR BY FAITH? God will reward us for our faithfulness in serving Him during our life but what we do during our life can't get us to Heaven, only faith in Jesus Christ will get us into Heaven!

Now let me address some of the issues about the Roman Catholic Church that have led many who know the Lord to leave that church and has caused much of the division with non-Catholics. 10 of the 700+ retired ministers who serve the Lord by helping me each day respond to the over 40,000 emails that we receive are Roman Catholic Priests. Over my years of ministry, I have personally preached in over 1/2 dozen Catholic Churches (and I can assure you that I shared the unadulterated truth of the Gospel and gave an altar call as I do whenever I preach in public), and the best we can tell, approximately 200,000 of the 2.5 million plus subscribers to the Daily Devotional are Catholics. I have read and studied the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church and as a student of church history am very well aware of what the Catholic Church teaches.

The problem most non-Catholics have with the Catholic Church is what I call their non-Biblical traditions, which by the way, ALL groups of churches or denominations have. I don't have the time to go through a complete list but the main ones are how they deal with the mother of Jesus, Mary. She was a virgin when she was immaculately conceived by the Holy Spirit, however, she was a person of flesh and blood like you and I and was born with sin just like you and I were. She also had other children as we know from the Scriptures. There is nothing wrong with honoring her for the incredible role God chose her to play in her life but she is NOT a deity and praying to her is as meaningless as it is to pray to any other person who is dead (including those the Catholic Church has deemed to be "saints") or alive. There is only ONE person we pray to and that is Jesus.

Another big issue in the Catholic Church is Communion. The tradition of the Catholic Church is that the wafer representing the body of our Lord and the wine representing His blood literally becomes the body and blood of Christ. That is a theological argument that Scripture clearly does not support, but I don't see that as an area for major contention. The Bible exhorts us to take Communion often in remembrance of the sacrifice of our Lord and there are those who believe based on certain verses it becomes the literal body and blood of Christ. Another issue that I don't think is that important is confessing your sins to a Priest. The Bible tells us to confess our sins one to another, so there is nothing wrong if it is your Priest you choose to do that with. However, please understand that NO MAN, only Jesus, can forgive you of your sins since it was only Jesus who died for your sins.

Another issue that is critical to talk about is salvation. The teaching of the Catholic Church clearly is that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone. However, there are some who teach in error (just like some non-Catholic Churches do) that you can do enough good works to earn your way into Heaven which is clearly refuted by Ephesians 2:8-9. Those who teach this, point to the passage in James, "Faith without works is dead." The fact is that passage was written to people who were already saved. The Bible clearly teaches that a person who is truly saved will have "fruit" or good works follow them. These good works do not save them but flow from their salvation.

Also, it needs to be addressed that many Catholics think that they were the "first church." Actually, the first church is well documented in the Book of Acts and was in Jerusalem, not Rome. There was quite a network of churches in that part of the world before there was any church at Rome and those early churches in the city of Rome were offshoots of those other various churches who came to plant churches there. It was several hundred years later, with many well established churches all over that part of the world before what we know as the Romans Catholic Church really emerged.

Lastly is the Bible. The Catholic Bible has 6 historical books known as the Apocrypha that deal with those 400 years from the end of Malachi, the end of the Old Testament, to the start of the New Testament. These books were never found to be inspired or inerrant and thus are not part of the 66 books we call the Bible. The Bible is God's inspired, inerrant Word, representing Absolute Truth and our final authority in all matters. It, and it alone is our authority and overrides any teachings or traditions of man.

Of course, there are many other non-Biblical traditions like purgatory and numerous others. Having said all of that, let me be clear. The Roman Catholic Church is a Christian Church and NOT a cult since the core teachings of the Church are salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone and the Bible as God's Word. Since the 1970s, there has been a very active and growing Charismatic group within the Roman Catholic Church that is as Pentecostal as any Pentecostal Church you will ever attend. Also, in the past 10 years, there is a growing and strong evangelical movement within the Catholic Church. They are working within the Church to bring back a greater emphasis on the Word of God and on the message of salvation and less emphasis on the traditions of the Catholic Church.

Many people who know Christ as their Savior by faith have chosen to stay in the Catholic Church. They are just as saved, love the Lord, and honor His Word as much as anyone who attends a non-Catholic Church. Are there people in the Catholic Church who aren't saved? Of course! Just like there are people in any church who are not saved. My friend, your Methodist Church can't save you, your Baptist Church can't save you, your Pentecostal Church can't save you, only faith in Jesus Christ can save you! Being baptized can't save you, the faith of your parents can't save you, no amount of good works can save you. ONLY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST CAN SAVE YOU!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I watch, daily, as satan works to divide the Body of Christ and perhaps there is no division as great as the one between Catholics and non-Catholics. Martin Luther's break with the Catholic Church took place at a time when the Catholic Church was more of a political entity than a spiritual one. Luther wanted to get back to the foundation of the faith, that being salvation through God's grace and our faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), or sola fides, the authority of God's Word, or sola scriptura. Regardless of the man-made, non-Biblical traditions of the Catholic Church, we are bonded by the shed blood of Jesus Christ since what makes us a Christian is not the name of the building we choose to worship in, but our faith in Christ.

I will continue to do my part in helping to bring unity to the Body of Christ by keeping people focused on the fact our real enemy is satan and not each other. The universal message of the Bible is that God loves each of us so much and desires to have a personal and intimate relationship with us now and for all of eternity. However, it is our sin that is separating us from God, and it is only faith in His Son, Jesus Christ that can wash our sins away and reconcile us to a holy God. Even though we may disagree on some doctrinal issues, on how a worship service is conducted or any number of other issues, let us never forget that those who know Jesus Christ by faith will be spending all of eternity together so we better start learning how to live with our brothers and sisters in Christ now.

I have confided in some of my Catholic friends that one of my great wishes is to be Pope for a day. I would organize a 24-hour telethon to be aired around the world. It would be a special telethon since we would not be raising money but saving souls. It would be 24 hours of non-stop soul winning and with the power of the Papacy, I believe it would be the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever seen! Let us pray that Pope Francis will come to have a heart for the lost, and the boldness to stand and proclaim that Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him!!!"

In His love and service,

Your friend and co-laborer in His work,

Bill Keller