I think this pope is a good man, and what he has said trumps all the religious leaders of the day, bar none.
I am a dyed in the wool Baptist, but I read my Bible like it matters, and he is the only one I hear saying to help the poor, the sick and the lost. In fact, I have given up on internet and TV preachers totally, because they are preying on people, and their weak desires and making themselves the center of the gospel instead of Christ.
Pope Francis is humble. He doesn't use the Vatican palace or the pope mobile. He worked on the front lines with the poverty stricken for years in Argentina.
Really, this whole thing about the Catholic Church comes from an erroneous interpretation of Revelation, which was popular in the 18th century.
Look around at secular people, who have done so much more harm than good. In every country. Those are the anti-Christs.
Finally, read Misty's post again. Christ called us to be his disciples, to grow in maturity and make disciples. All this hype about end times is just nonsense. The end has been predicted by so many cults it is ridiculous. It scares people away from Christ, and it is NOT what God has called us to do.
Just sad that people cannot read the words of the Old Testament, Christ and the epistles, and see that Revelation is a vision that does not matter what it means, if we are obeying God. And that means caring for the poor, the sick those in prison and sharing the gospel. Or did you forget to read the following:
"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. [SUP]35 [/SUP]For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, [SUP]36 [/SUP]I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’[SUP]37 [/SUP]Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? [SUP]38 [/SUP]And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? [SUP]39 [/SUP]And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ [SUP]40 [/SUP]And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[SUP]
[f][/SUP]
you did it to me.’[SUP]41 [/SUP]“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [SUP]42 [/SUP]For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, [SUP]43 [/SUP]I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ [SUP]44 [/SUP]Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ [SUP]45 [/SUP]Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ [SUP]46 [/SUP]And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matt 25:34-46
This is Christ speaking, are you obeying him, or imagining what might be the scenario at the end of time? I pray that I am listening to this important speech by Jesus, who announced his ministry in the synagogue by saying:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
[SUP]19 [/SUP]to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” Luke 4:18-19 from Isa. 61:1
No one is going to be with Jesus based on their accurate guesses of the fulfillment of end time prophecies from what I can see in the Bible. Instead, work on following Jesus and you won't have to worry what is happening in the world or the what the doomsday prophets are saying. There works will find them out.