Reformation Commemoration

Special Reformation Commemoration meetings were held in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church where the relevance of the Reformation for today was considered

Sermon One: Ecumenism - The Attempt to undo the Reformation
Preached by Rev Ivan Foster, Retired Minister

Errors of the Charismatic/Pentecostal Movement Part 14

These posts stem from a series of fifteen studies conducted, in our Youth Fellowship meetings, at the request of the young people who attend, dealing with the errors of the Charismatic/Pentecostal Movement

Study 1 - Introduction

Study 2 - The Infilling of the Spirit

Study 3 - The Purpose of New Testament Supernatural Gifts

Study 4 - The Cessation of New Testament Supernatural Gifts - Part one
Study 5 - The Cessation of New Testament supernatural gifts - Part two
Study 6 - The Errors of Tongue Speaking
Study 7 - The Error of Faith Healing - Part one
Study 8 - The Errors of Faith Healing - Part two
Study 9 - The Errors of Demon Possession - Part one
Study 10 - The Errors of Demon Possession - Part two
Study 11 - The Errors of Demon Possession - Part three
Study 12 - The Error of Claiming the Gift of Prophecy
Study 13 - The Errors of Claiming 'Words of Wisdom' and 'Words of Knowledge'

Study Fourteen - The Errors of Claiming the gifts of Discerning Spirits & Interpreting Tongues

1. The Errors of claiming the gift of Discerning Spirits. This gift is the claimed capability to distinguish whether it is God's Spirit, man's spirit or an evil spirit that is speaking through someone. An example of an evil spirit speaking through someone is said to be Peter when he was rebuked by the Saviour for suggesting that He should not go to the cross. The Lord Jesus said: Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men, Matt 16:23.

Why no similar outcry when the Bible was recently mocked and Christians offended?

Recent days have witnessed an outpouring of condemnation directed towards Pastor James McConnell, minister of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast, over his comments in a sermon about Islam. We have had the 'former' IRA commander and Joint First Minister, Martin McGuinness, along with the moderator of the ecumenical Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev Dr Rob Craig, voicing their opposition. An assortment of others from the secular and ecumenical classes, including Alliance's East Belfast MP Naomi Long; MLAs Anna Lo, Alex Attwood, John O'Dowd and Danny Kinahan; Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Ivan Lewis, Northern Ireland Secretary, Theresa Villiers and Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore, have all come out to join in the chorus of condemnation as they castigate Pastor McConnell for his comments. When you have these types of individuals arrayed against you, what you say must indeed be the truth. A man is known by those who oppose him, as much as by his friends!

However, it is worth remembering that when the Bible was mocked and ridiculed a few months back in The Theatre at the Mill in Newtownabbey [For details click here] no such outpourings of condemnation were forthcoming from these individuals and their respective constituencies. At best, they stood by and were quite happy for the Bible to be mocked, without raising a single word of opposition. At worst, they insisted that the play must go ahead and the production must be allowed to mock the Bible in the name of free speech, civil liberties and a pluralist society.

Memorial service for bus crash victims involves rank ecumenist

A memorial service was held on 4th June in Carrickfergus Town Hall for those involved the Bryantang bus crash 20 years ago. Not everyone involved in that tragedy was invited along to attend as a memorial plague was unveiled! A number who were involved those 20 years ago and who were also injured were never informed about it taking place.

Would it have anything to do with the fact that among those taking part in this 'memorial service' was Rev David Armstrong?

David Armstrong, who spoke and led in prayer, is well known as the Presbyterian minister whose pursuit of ecumenism in Limavady in the mid-1980s caused him to leave the town. The Free Presbyterian Church were among those who protested against his ecumenical actions back then.

He was present and took part in this memorial service as he now resides in the town and was deputising for the Mayor's chaplain. 

Newtownabbey Borough Council Subsidising Ecumenism

It transpires, as a result of a Freedom of Information request submitted to Newtownabbey Borough Council, that the ecumenical venture, C.A.N., mentioned in a previous post, and of which the new Greater Glengormley Churches Community Forum is a part, is being subsidised in part by the local Council.

In the region of £50,000 has so far been given to this ecumenical venture. This is not including Council facilities that have been put at its disposal:

1. £6,780 was given to Williamson Consulting during the consultation phase. A focus group meeting was also held at the Council owned Mossley Mill.

2. £42,500 was given to Macaulay Associates during the delivery phase. Four steering group meetings were held at Mossley Mill, plus a training session and a further three focus group meetings leading to the setting up of the Churches' Forum. The booking fee of £250 for the hire of the room to launch the Greater Glengormley Churches Community Forum was also waived.

It will be interesting to discover how much of this £50,000 comes from ratepayers in the Borough and whether the Council would be so accommodating to Protestant evangelical groups who might want to use Council premises for the furtherance of their objectives!

Why the Free Presbyterian Church won't be taking part in Greater Glengormley Churches' Community Forum

On 12th August past I received, by an email, an invitation to attend the inaugural meeting of the Greater Glengormley Churches Community Forum. This meeting was to be held in Mossley Mill on Monday evening, 22nd August at 6.30pm.

Background

This proposed Forum is part of a wider grouping/organisation which has taken the acrostic C.A.N. as part of their title. C.A.N. stands for Carrickfergus, Antrim and Newtownabbey. It is a Peace Partnership Faith Communities Programme, developed in consultation with local faith based organisations under the subtitle: Connecting Faith and Community.

It is stated that this venture, which the Forum seems to be but one aspect of, is part of the Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland. This Peace III programme is partly funded by the European Union to the tune of €225 million, with further national contributions of €108 million through its Structural Funds programme. That brings the total to €333 million. 

This Peace III programme covers the period 2007-2013. The previous programme, Peace II, ran from 2000-2006, with €425 million funding.

This invitation was extended by Macaulay Associates Network who have been appointed by the CAN Peace III Partnership to deliver the programme.

Progress

This Forum has originated out of a series of focus groups, conducted between March and June of this year, involving representatives of local churches, and supported by Glengormley Clergy Fellowship. The listed participants of these focus groups include: 

Carnmoney & New Mossley Presbyterian Churches; 

Carnmoney Church of Ireland; 

St Marys & St Bernards Roman Catholic Churches; 

Glengormley Methodist Church & 

Glenabbey Fellowship.

The Forum is to be led by lay church members in the Greater Glengormley area, and will maintain regular communication with the Glengormley Clergy Fellowship.

A representative Steering Group was set up at the meeting on 20th June 2011. During July and August 2011 the Steering Group has been meeting to develop a strategy and action plan for the next two years.

It is envisaged that the Forum will move around the local churches when it meets. 

C S Lewis - A Bridge to Rome

In studying to preach on why we oppose the papal visit I came across a very interesting article on C S Lewis and his influencing of a number of individuals towards Romanism written by Mrs Jill Saunders wife of Dr Larry Saunders, minister of Toronto Free Presbyterian Church.

To think that professing evangelicals quote this man is staggering!

Click here to read the article C S Lewis - A Bridge to Rome.

Presbyterian Church asked to join new ecumenical body for all of Ireland

The editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette Canon Ian Ellis has asked the Presbyterian Church in Ireland to become even more ecumenical and join with a new body which includes the Roman Catholic Church.

The Irish Times carried the following report:

Church urged to join new body 

THE PRESBYTERIAN Church has been asked to reconsider its 1999 decision not to take part in “a single, interchurch body for Ireland, including the Roman Catholic Church”. 

In a statement, editor of the Church of Ireland Gazette Canon Ian Ellis also pointed out that “there were no doctrinal issues that could have prevented the Presbyterian Church from being part of the new body”. He said “the negative decision of the 1999 General Assembly brought dismay to other churches”. 

Welcoming the Presbyterian Moderator the Rev Norman Hamilton’s “emphasis on tackling sectarianism and affirming the church’s role in building better community relations” in his first address to the General Assembly in Belfast, Canon Ellis said that “as far as church relations are concerned, we also need to be looking to a shared church future”. It was for that reason he was appealing to the Presbyterian Church to reconsider its 1999 decision not to proceed with a single, interchurch body for Ireland, including the Roman Catholic Church. 

Earlier, the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Rev Stafford Carson, said he was “very moved” by a recent observation of the Catholic Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. 

Speaking in his last address as Moderator to the Presbyterian General Assembly Dr Carson quoted from Archbishop Martin’s speech in Dublin last month to the Knights of Columbanus. 

Dr Carson said: ‘Our young people are among the most catechised in Europe but among the least evangelised . . . This immediately brings us to the deeper question about the level of understanding of the message of Jesus Christ which exists in our Catholic Church and in our society in Ireland today. What do we really know of the message of Jesus?’

It will be interesting to see what the outcome is with an ecumenical non-evangelical new moderator just recently installed.

The Alpha Course part 4

What is wrong with 'The Alpha Course'?

Part 1
Part 2Part 3

The Alpha Course is Charismatic in Tone.

As the root so are the branches. Remember that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. The Alpha Course could be nothing else, other than charismatic, when a closer look is taken at its author.

i. From the same stable as the ‘Toronto Blessing’.
The Church that brings us the Alpha Course is the same Church that brought the ‘Toronto Blessing’ to the U.K. It was in Holy Trinity Church, Brompton in the early nineties that the so called ‘laughing revival’ first appeared in Britain.

Nicky Gumbel was one of the leading lights in the promotion of the ‘Toronto Blessing’ around the country. He attended a meeting at which a Mrs Eleanor Munford was present. At this house meeting she told of her experiences in Toronto and ‘invited the Holy Spirit to come’. The moment she did that strange things began to happen. One person was thrown across the room and lay on the floor howling and laughing, ‘making the most incredible noise’. Another man lay on the floor ‘prophesying’. Some appeared to be drunken. Gumbel testified that he had an experience ‘like massive electricity going through his body’.

He got himself together and rushed to his Church where he was now late for a meeting. At its close he thanked the Lord for all He was doing and prayed that He would send His Spirit. The same phenomena were manifested with one individual lying on the floor with his feet in the air 'laughing like a hyena'. Taxis were provided at Holy Trinity for parishioners too ‘drunk in the Spirit’ to drive home from services. May 29th, 1994 was the start of this in Holy Trinity Brompton. The national newspapers carried the story shortly after. Nicky Gumbel has said:
I believe it is no coincidence that the present movement of the Holy Spirit (Toronto Blessing) has come at the same time as the explosion of the Alpha Courses. I think the two go together, Renewal May 1995, page 15.

ii. The Alpha Course itself is full of Charismatic error.
Nicky Gumbel’s Charismatic tendencies are to the fore in the Alpha Course. The phenomena of the Toronto Blessing are seen in Alpha:

[1] The calling down of the Spirit. In this Alpha Course each one is taken through the ‘experience’ of receiving the Holy Ghost. In conducting the course in his own Church Gumbel prays for the Holy Spirit to come down. The language is the language of the Charismatic Movement. This has no resemblance at all to what is taught in God’s Word. They are not looking for the infilling of the Holy Ghost, after He has indwelt them, so that they may live holy lives, glorifying Christ. This falling of the Holy Ghost upon them is the only time He comes and it is for the purpose of having the Charismatic gifts, outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. These gifts have ceased. They were for the early Church to authenticate the ministry of the apostles and were in evidence only for a limited period of time.

[2] Speaking in tongues. People are encouraged to look for the gift of tongues. Gumbel describes tongues as ‘talking to God in a language that he gives you to use’. He quotes: For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God 1 Cor 14:12 as proof that tongues is a form of prayer. This is not what Paul is saying if we read the whole verse and the next verse. If this is the substance of tongue speaking it is of no profit, cf. 1 Cor 14:13-15. Gumbel’s perception of tongues is not the Bible’s. He encourages people to learn this gift. They: ‘take time to develop. Most of us start with a very limited vocabulary. It gradually develops. Tongues is like that. Don’t give up’, Questions of Life, page 147.

Is this the gift of tongues as found in the Bible? The Apostles on the Day of Pentecost did not ‘learn’ tongues in this way. They were immediately able to speak other languages.

[3] Spiritual slayings. Here is another aspect of this error. The participants are encouraged to open themselves to the slaying of the Spirit. They are said to ‘shake like a leaf in the wind’ and experience a ‘glowing all over’ and ‘liquid heat’.

They are to empty their minds and let whatever comes in have its way. This is hardly in keeping with the injunction to let all things be done decently and in order. Gumbel’s advice is a licence for chaos. Where is this found in God’s Word?

[4] Words of knowledge. John Wimber, from the Vineyard fellowship in Toronto, gave Gumbel a ‘Word of Knowledge’. He told him he had a gift for telling others. Gumbel says he can trace his ministry of telling others to this time. The Alpha Course is the philosophy of Wimberism.

There are no revelations from God outside His Word. God speaks alone to individuals from the pages of Holy Writ and not through some modern day ‘seer’.

The Charismatic Movement is not based on the Word of God and therefore the Alpha Course, so full of this falsehood, is not built either on the Rock of Holy Scripture.

The Alpha Course Part 3

What is wrong with 'The Alpha Course'?
Part 1
Part 2

The Alpha Course is Ecumenical in Emphasis.

There is considerable emphasis placed upon so-called unity in the Alpha Course. Alpha has extensive cross denominational support. Church leaders from all the major denominations have voiced their support for it. Anglican, Baptist, Elim, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and The Salvation Army all support Alpha.

i. The stated ecumenical philosophy
Nicky Gumbel says the following about his intentions:
We need to unite...there has been some comment which is not helpful to unity. Let us drop all that and get on. It is wonderful that the movement of the Spirit will bring churches together. He is doing that right across the denominations and within the traditions… we are seeing Roman Catholics coming now.… Nobody is suspicious of anybody else... People are no longer ‘labelling’ themselves or others. I long for the day when we drop all these labels and just regard ourselves as Christians with a commission from Jesus Christ, Renewal, May 1995, page 16.

This Alpha Course is the product of a confirmed and committed ecumenist. All that he sets forth in these lessons is geared to bringing the Churches together. He wants unity at any cost. The things that divide - drop them. That means the fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures and the Reformation, and the historic confessions of faith are to be dropped. All are to be sacrificed on this altar of ecumenical, God-dishonouring false unity. At the Reformation the Spirit of God did not take men back into the arms of popery. He brought them out of that wicked system. Will the Spirit now reverse what He has previously done? I think not!

To use Alpha is to promote ecumenism. That is why it is so bland in respect of doctrine. It will please everybody and offend no one in these ecumenical churches. It does, however, offend the God of heaven. No right-thinking, Bible-believing Christian should have anything to do with it.

ii. Rome is entirely happy with the Alpha Course
The Roman Catholic Church has set up its own Alpha office and produced a number of booklets to go along with Alpha. ‘Alpha for Catholics’ in the section: Can Alpha work ecumenically? says:
Yes, because Alpha focuses on the basic Christian message, it easily lends itself for use by ecumenical groups. It aims to present the core truths upon which the churches have already agreed and which form the real but imperfect unity that the Catholic Church already enjoys with other Christian Churches....

Nicky Gumbel states that the differences between Protestants and Catholics are:
Totally insignificant compared with the things that unite us...we need to unite around the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus; the absolute essentials at the core of the Christian faith on which we are all agreed. We need to give people liberty to disagree on the things that are secondary, Talk page 8 section ii.

The things which divide Biblical Christianity rediscovered at the Protestant Reformation and
Romanism are highly significant. They go the very heart of how a sinner can be right before God. The Bible teaches justification by faith alone. Rome teaches that it is by a mixture of faith and works.

Bishop Ambrose Griffiths RC Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle says:
Alpha does not contain anything that is contrary to Catholic doctrine. What’s more it provides, in wonderful form, the basis of Christian belief which many Catholics have never cottoned on to..…, Alpha, God changing lives page 8.

How can Alpha set forth the true way of salvation if this bishop can say that there is nothing contrary to Catholic doctrine in it? The Council of Trent Session vi Canon 10 has this to say about the Biblical doctrine of salvation by faith alone:
If any one says that justifying faith is nothing else than trust in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ’s sake; or that it is by trust alone by which we are justified; let him be accursed.

Evidently Alpha does not set forth salvation by faith alone or else the Bishop could not say that there is nothing in it contrary to Catholic doctrine. How then can this lead any man to a true saving knowledge of Christ and a proper understanding of the Christian Faith? It is a betrayal of the true doctrine of salvation.

iii. It is seen as being useful in the renewal of Romanism
Rome is encouraging her people to conduct the Alpha course. This is with the objective of renewing her people’s devotion to Holy Mother Church. Alpha is praised in Church magazines as a tool to this end. The renewal of devotion is to that system of popery which our forefathers fought to the bitter death.

In a Post Alpha Catholic Teaching manual, under the heading: Who needs the Catholic Church? a most startling statement is made:
I want to give thanks for the gift of the papacy to the Church. It really is a wonderful blessing. The episcopacy, the papacy are moorings which keep us from drifting away with any fad that comes along... we are blessed to have that sort of Anchor.... I need the Church’s tradition because I’m not smart enough in reading the Scriptures to understand what they say. It is only with the help of St Augustine, St Gregory of Nicea, Thomas Aquinas and St Catherine of Sienna that I can hope to understand what God is saying to me and to all of us as I read the Scriptures... I really need the saints not only in their wisdom but in their example. They keep me motivated knowing that if they made it I can make it through their prayers and by the power of the holy host, Exploring the Catholic Church by Dr M D’Ambrosio, Professor of Theology, Catholic University of Dallas.

The Alpha Course has not changed Rome. She is still a harlot Church. If Rome is happy with Alpha then no Bible lover should be. Alpha does not deliver from sin as the true Gospel did in the lives of the Reformers and many others. Rather it renews Rome. Therefore it cannot be of God. For these reasons we call on all who desire to contend for the truth to turn away from the Alpha Course.

The Alpha Course Part 1

The Alpha Course is being run once again at the local Corrs Corner Hotel here in Glengormley. There will follow DV a synopsis of a series of sermons preached on 'The Alpha Course' a few years ago in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church. 

What is Alpha?

The Alpha Course is supposedly an introduction to the Christian Faith in a non-threatening environment. The program consists of 15 sessions run over a 10 week period. It covers such basic topics as:
Who is Jesus?
Why did Jesus die?
How can I be sure of my faith?
Why and how should I read my Bible?
How does God guide us?
How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Does God heal people today?
What about the Church?

The sales pitch is ‘no preaching’!

ACROSTIC

The Alpha plan is described by the following acrostic in a brochure used to advertise Alpha:
A - Anyone interested in finding out about the Christian Faith.
L - Learning and laughter. It is possible to learn about the Christian faith and have fun at the same time.
P - Pasta and pudding. Eating a meal together gives people an opportunity to get to know each other.
H - Helping one another. The small groups give you a chance to discuss issues raised in the talks.
A - Ask anything. Alpha is a place where no question is regarded as too simple or too hostile.

Most of these topics may seem perfectly innocent and to be encouraged. But no book is to be judged by its cover. We need to try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world, cf. 1 John 4:1: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

PRESENT VERSION

The Alpha Course is the brainchild of Nicky Gumbel, curate of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Brompton, London (in the Knightsbridge area). The original Alpha Course has been running for almost 30 years. It has been a formidable success. Since its relaunch in 1992 the numbers signing up to run this course have been steadily rising. From 200 in 1993 in how has over 1.5 million attending. Churches are full where this course is run. Churches which closed down for lack of interest are being reopened. Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Pentecostalists and Romanists all run Alpha Courses. All with a strong spirit of ecumenical 'Christian' unity.

We as a denomination disapprove in the strongest terms of the Alpha Course. There is no false teaching as bad as that which mixes truth and error. The Alpha Course has a form of godliness but it denies the power thereof. From such, all who love the truth, are to turn away. They may use what seems like the right terminology. But it falls far short of genuine Bible religion.

Next part: Why we oppose the Alpha Course.

Further ecumenism and apostasy in Carnmoney Presbyterian Church

The Newtownabbey Clergy Fellowship have organised a local 'Pentecost Global Day of Prayer Service' to be held in St Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church in Glengormley on Sunday 31st May 2009 at 3.00pm.

This service has been announced on the Carnmoney Presbyterian Church website. As the title indicates this venture is part of events here in the Northern Ireland and further afield.

What is interesting to observe is the contradiction and confusion that lies at the heart of this Day of Prayer. On the website of the organising body: 'The World Prayer Center', which has arranged similar events throughout the United Kingdom, there is a statement of faith. In this statement of faith Point 8 clearly states that the organising body believes in 'The justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ'.

This raises a number of important questions:
1. How can so-called Protestant Ministers and born again believers attend a Roman Catholic Chapel and join in prayer with those who deny the truth that is contained in this statement of faith? Truth which contradicts fundamental tenets of Romanism. This is nothing short of utter confusion, dishonesty and hypocrisy!

It is no surprise at all that the unconverted run after Romanism. They are just as deceived as Roman Catholics are on the matter of salvation. What is grieving is that those who claim to have been 'converted to Christ' are taken in or else choose to remain silent when such departure from the truth of the Gospel is taking place in their churches. They are like those who joined with the enemies of God's cause in Old Testament times: In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them, Obadiah 1:11.

2. Is keeping the peace within the Clergy Fellowship more important than integrity and honesty? How can these 'Protestant ministers' arrange and attend an event like this when the organising body's statement of faith so clearly condemns Romanism?

As ever the Word of God makes a telling observation about this ecumenical prayer service: He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination, Proverbs ch 28:9.

If this event in St Bernard's is built on the foundation of compromise and the denial of the Gospel, and it surely is, then according to the Word of God the prayers of those who attend will never be heard. More than this their prayers are an abomination to God.

How much more departure from the truth of the Gospel needs to take place before born again believers in the mainline Protestant churches speak up and get out as commanded in the Scriptures? It would seem that they have been lulled to sleep!

I have emailed the contact given on the website for this local event and await a reply!

The Newtownabbey Times carries my criticism of cross community carol service

The Newtownabbey Times has finally carried a much watered down article outlining my criticism of the cross community carol service which took place in Glengormley Methodist Church. I had initially written a letter which they have not published but only quoted a few lines.

They evidently don't want to rock the ecumenical boat too much!

Ecumenism in Glengormley

The Newtownabbey Times has reported on the Community Carol Service which took place in Glengormley Methodist Church during December. This event is in its third year and 'rotates around the four Glengormley Churches annually, under the auspices of the Glengormley Clergy Fellowship'.

Invited guests include local retailers, representatives from local community groups and schools, as well as the Mayor of Newtownabbey, Alderman Victor Robinson, the Mayoress and local councillors. Taking part in the service was: Rev Mervyn Kilpatrick of the Methodist Church; Rev David Brice from Glengormley Presbyterian; Rev William Boyce from St Brigid's Church of Ireland; and 'Father' Dan Whyte of St Bernard's Roman Catholic Church.

This event further highlights the gross apostasy of the mainline Churches which can conduct joint worship with a Roman Catholic priest. A letter was sent to the Newtownabbey Times pointing this out:

The ecumenical spirit on display at the Community Carol Service in Glengormley is a sad betrayal of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by those Protestant ministers who joined with and permitted a Roman Catholic priest to participate. 

Romanism is not Christian therefore no Romish priest should be taking part in any service in a Protestant Church. The doctrinal statements of the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church, as well as the teachings of John Wesley which forms the basis for the doctrinal beliefs of Methodism, clearly emphasis this. 

God can only be properly worshipped on the basis of truth, John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There can be no common ground between Romanism and Biblical Protestantism. 

The 'Christ' that Romanism preaches is one totally different to that revealed to us in the Word of God. It is not possible for these so called Protestant ministers to profess allegiance to the Saviour and the Bible and at the same time associate with one who openly denies the Christ of the Bible. Romanism preaches another Christ and 'another Gospel' which will not save anyone, Gal 1:6-9. 

Sadly we live in times when great departure from historic orthodox Christianity has taken place. These Protestant ministers are part of that growing departure, 2 Thess 2:3. 

Born again believers should have no part in such a service and also have no association with those who betray the Gospel in this fashion. 

We are commanded in the New Testament to mark out those who have departed from the faith, Rom 16:17; reprove and reject them, Eph 5:11, Titus 3:10; have no fellowship with them, 2 Cor 6;14 and separate wholly from them, 2 Cor 6:17. That was evidently not happening at the community carol service. 

May in this year that marks the 150th anniversary of the 1859 Revival we see a return to Biblical Christianity.