April 15, 2014 Steps to Life Newsletter

Dear STL Supporter

Bishop Terry Palmer, Pope Francis and Kenneth Copeland's "Miracle of Unity" - Luther's Protest Expounded on 95 Theses or Points of Protest He Had with the Catholic Church

By now most STL Newsletter readers will have heard of or viewed the informative YouTube clips of Bishop Palmer's presentations claiming that Luther's protest on October 31, 1517, was bought to end 15 years ago by an agreement signed in 1999 by Protestant representatives and Catholics. Its interesting that in 2017 it will be 500 years from date of Luther nailing his protest to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31. The assertion of the signing of the agreement leads to Palmer's claim that we are all Catholics - meaning universal. As well, you may have listened to or viewed the responses from other commentators including Pastor Doug Batchelor and Pastor Walter Veith.

What the Catholics and Protestant representatives signed according to Bishop Palmer included a statement saying Justification means that Christ himself is our righteousness, in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the Father. Together we Catholics, and Protestants, Lutherans believe and confess, that by grace alone in faith in Christ's saving works and not because of any merit on our part we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to do good works.

On the other hand, there are the serious differences which go to matters like the Virgin Mary and the role that Catholics ascribe to her, their belief in purgatory, hell, penance, the mediatoral role of priests, celibacy for priests and nuns, the practice of confession, etc. Luther was also protesting about these beliefs and practices. The Miracle of Unity has overlooked the vast remaining territory of Luther's protest.

From the very start of his papacy Pope Francis has been ramping up a theme of unity and return to the Universal or Catholic Church. His is homogenizing Protestants, Jews and Muslims back to the Catholic fold. He is pursuing a One

World Religion for the benefit of humanity. He has softened the Catholic Church's stance on the Bible defined sin of homosexuality. He is being inclusive for the sake of unity. Biblical doctrine (What is doctrine, if not the teachings of Jesus?) is being adulterated for the sake of a form of unity. However, true unity can only be founded on Bible truth.

Revelation 17:3-6 describes what we are seeing. So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. (NKJV). The rest of Revelation 17 provides identifying characteristics of the woman riding on the beast

Jeff Wehr's Walking with Jesus Through the Book of Romans DVDs Released Now as Hard Copies and for Computer Download by Vimeo.

Jeff Wehr's recent seminar series is now available as a DVD set and by download through our web site Jeff's hard copy DVD set will cost $75 all incl. The Vimeo download will cost $35 gst incl for the full set, $7 per individual DVD and a one off viewing of one DVD will cost $4.00.

Progressively STL plans to make all of its HD DVDs available through Vimeo download for those who prefer to access it this way.

Noah - The Movie. Noah, Another Storm Coming - The Book

The much hyped movie, Noah, has been in the theatres and on the billboards for a number of weeks now. There is no claim by the producers that it is accurate to the Biblical account of the flood. In fact the producers, acknowledge that the flood story has been greatly embellished. The book, Noah, Another Storm Coming, has been released to provide a Biblical based response to the fictional version of the movie. It's an attempt to convey the seriousness of the message of Noah to those who are taken in by the movie.

Order Online - $3.85

Noah, the book, has been published to distribute to the thousands of moviegoers as they stream out of the theatres screening the Noah movie. It's produced by Remnant Publications in the USA. It has a helpful introduction and is divided into three sections - The Real Story (excerpt from Patriarchs and Prophets), The Coming Storm (excerpt from The Great Controversy), and The Problem of Evil (excerpt from The Desire of Ages). Prolific Christian author, Ellen White is the author of each of the excerpts. The book explains who she is in the context of the great Protestant authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It's 126 pages are a compelling read and are a very helpful point of comparison for folks who have seen Noah, the movie. It's been produced as cheaply as possible for mass distribution, but has a nice glossy cover and good binding. STL is a supplier of Remnant Publication materials in Australia.. Call Cherryl at STL for the pricing of bulk orders. Maybe you would like to give all the members of your church or family a copy. How about your neighbourhood?

The Christian Berdahl Evangelism Fund Is Growing!!

The fund has now grown to $17,122. His program on Addictions of the Internet will be conducted in the usual STL seminar centres and at the country stops along the travelling route. We intend to advertise widely Addictions of the Internet in the communities around the venues the seminar is held. This is not a cheap exercise, so along with airfares for the four Berdahl family members and the advertising costs, we have estimated that we need to raise in the vicinity of $60,000 to do justice to brochure printing, distribution and newspaper advertising in the three major seminar locations and three or four one and two evening country centre programs. We are grateful to God and the donors who provided the $17,122 to date. We are almost one third of the way to the target. If you can contribute you will become a partner with STL in this project and help make it a reality. We ask that you keep this program in your prayers.

Two Free Sony SDI Standard Definition Studio CRT Monitors Available

Because STL is now filming in high definition we are giving away the two monitors. One is a 9 inch screen and the other is 14 inch. Both have SDI input and output. For the type of monitor they are both top of the range in performance capability. If you are interested please call Joel at STL. It would be good if they could be used in a Christian context but this is not essential. Pick up or freight will need to be arranged or paid for.

Christian greetings from Cherryl and the STL Team

Brian Way/ Program Co-ordinator