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Pope Francis Held Secret Meetings With Same-Sex LGBT Couples During US Trip

Yayo Grassi, an openly gay man, brought his partner, Iwan Bagus, as well several other friends to the Vatican Embassy on September 23 for a brief visit with Pope Francis.

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Pope held private meeting with same-sex couple in U.S.

“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.” Romans 1:26,27 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This month, Pope Francis has called high-level meetings at the Vatican to discuss how to include openly gay and lesbian people within the church. His secret meeting last week with same-sex couples shows you the Popes true intentions. Prepare yourself for full and complete acceptance of openly-gay LGBT Catholic church members. Pope Francis is building his One World Religion, and the gates of Hell fully support him. Grassi said the Pope has long known that he is gay, but has never condemned his sexuality or his same-sex relationship. Hmm…I bet.

Yayo Grassi, an openly gay man, brought his partner, Iwan Bagus, as well several other friends to the Vatican Embassy on September 23 for a brief visit with Pope Francis. A video of the meeting shows Grassi and Francis greeting each other with a warm hug.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Grassi said the visit was arranged personally with the Pope via email in the weeks ahead of Francis’ highly anticipated visit to the United States.

pope-francis-held-secret-meetings-with-same-sex-couples-in-united-states

“Three weeks before the trip, he called me on the phone and said he would love to give me a hug,” Grassi said.

The meeting between the Pope and gay couple adds another intriguing twist to the strange aftermath of Francis’ first-ever trip to the United States. Since news broke on Tuesday of Francis’ meeting with Davis, conservatives have cheered the seemingly implicit endorsement, while liberals have questioned how much the Pope knew about her case.

The two encounters — one with a gay couple and one with a government official who ardently opposes homosexuality — have left the Vatican scrambling to issue statements that seek to de-politicize the Pope’s meetings and agenda.

On Friday afternoon, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that Grassi had asked to present his friends to Francis in Washington.

“As noted in the past, the Pope, as pastor, has maintained many personal relationships with people in a spirit of kindness, welcome and dialogue,” Lombardi said.

Earlier on Friday, the Vatican said that the meeting with Davis was not intended as a show of support for her cause and “the only real audience granted by the Pope at the nunciature (embassy) was with one of his former students and his family.”

“That was me,” Grassi said.

Grassi, who is 67, added that he is willing to talk about his private moment with the pontiff because he was upset about media coverage of the Pope’s meeting with Davis.

“I want to show the truth of who Pope Francis is,” he said.

Pope Francis taught Grassi in literature and psychology classes at Inmaculada Concepcion, a Catholic high school in Sante Fe, Argentina, from 1964-1965. Grassi said that he is now an atheist.

Grassi said the Pope has long known that he is gay, but has never condemned his sexuality or his same-sex relationship. In the video, Francis says he recalls meeting Grassi’s boyfriend in Rome.

“He has never been judgmental,” Grassi said. “He has never said anything negative.”

Grassi said that he asked for the meeting in Washington because the friends he brought along have been through difficult times and wanted to receive of a blessing from the pontiff.

At the end the meeting, the Pope hugs both Grassi and Bagus and kisses them on the cheek.

“Obviously he is the pastor of the church and he has to follow the church’s teachings,” Grassi added. “But as a human being he understands all kinds of situations, and he is open to all kinds of people, including those with different sexual characteristics.”

While not changing church teaching, which considers same-sex relationships sinful, Pope Francis has often emphasized mercy over judgment. In 2013, for example, he famously said, “Who am I to judge” gay priests who seek to do God’s will. He also reportedly met with a transgender man from Spain in January of this year.

At the same time, the Vatican has refused to recognize France’s ambassador to the Holy See, Laurent Stefanini, who is openly gay. And Francis has show little inclination to adjust church doctrine on sexuality.

“It reminds us, again, that the Pope meets with all sorts of people on his trips and that such meetings are not an ‘endorsement’ of anything,” said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large at America magazine.

“In this case, for example, he is not endorsing same-sex marriage. But if Mr. Grassi’s account is accurate, then it makes me happy to know that the Pope keeps in contact with his old friends, both gay and straight. For friendship and welcome are at the heart of the Christian life.”

This October, the Vatican will hold a major meeting, called a synod, to discuss how to minister to gays and lesbians, among other issues facing modern Catholics.

While Grassi describes his relationship to the Pope as very close, they haven’t always agreed on same-sex rights.

During Argentina’s heated debate over same-sex marriage in 2010, Grassi chastised the Pope for opposing gay rights. At one point, the future pontiff suggested that same-sex marriage is the work of the devil.

“You have been my guide, continuously moving my horizons—you have shaped the most progressive aspects of my worldview,” Grassi wrote to the future Pope in an email, according to National Geographic magazine. “And to hear this from you is so disappointing.”

Grassi told CNN that Francis — then Cardinal Jorge Margio Bergoglio — wrote back, saying that he was sorry to have upset his former student and promising that “homophobia” had no place in the Catholic Church.

Grassi said he believes the Pope was “misled” into meeting with Davis, who served six days in a Kentucky jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Davis’ lawyers had portrayed the papal meeting as an endorsement of her cause. After several days of questions and culture-war sparring, the Vatican said that was not the case.

“The Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis, and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects,” Lombardi said in a statement issued Friday morning.

The question of who, exactly, set up the meeting between Davis and the Pope has been the subject of fervid media speculation this week.

Vatican officials have said that such an encounter could only have taken place with the planning and approval of the Holy See’s nuncio — or envoy — to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. source

Free Bible Program

The Massive High Security Miami Correctional Facility And ICE Detainee Center In Bunker Hill, Indiana, Needs King James Bibles For Its 3,188 Inmates

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The Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana needs King James and Spanish Bibles for their thousands of inmates and ICE detainees

The Miami Correctional Facility, situated near Bunker Hill, Indiana, on the grounds of the Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base, was established in 1998 as a state prison. This facility accommodates adult males and includes inmates with high, medium, and minimum-security classifications. Miami is the largest prison in Indiana, boasting a capacity to house 3,188 prisoners when at full occupancy, including ICE detainees. Man, oh man, if you’re looking for fertile ground to start planting the seeds of the gospel, this is it.

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 13:8,9 (KJB)

Chaplain Blair writes: “Our incarcerated population is currently about 1000 listed as General Christian or Catholic.  We offer services each week lead by Chaplains and/or outside volunteers.  Offenders are able to attend multiple times per week and often request bibles for personal use. Our ICE detainee population is about 400 General Christian or Catholic.  Services are ran to match the incarcerated population (citizens legally incarcerated). We are a level 3 / level 4 prison, meaning we are classified as medium-high to high security.  Most of the population are between the ages of 20-40. All religious materials we as Chaplains can distribute must come from outside donations from organizations like yours.” Christian, can you get excited by all this? Here is our opportunity to send the preserved word of God into a facility filled to overflowing with Catholics, ICE detainees and Christian and non-Christian inmates. Talk about going into all the world with the gospel. Bibles Behind Bars was raised up for this exact purpose, for such a time as this. Come help us to keep the supply lines open at the Miami Correctional Facility!

If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to inmates in jails and prisons from Florida to Alaska, and every state in between. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!


NOTE: If you need a 501 C3 Letter of Donation for tax purposes, please send your donation to:

NTEB Ministries
1340 N Great Neck Rd.
Ste. 1272-129
Virginia Beach, VA 23454.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Christian Nationalism

Watchdog Group Says Combat Unit Commanders Telling Troops That Donald Trump Has Been ‘Anointed By Jesus To Light The Fire In Iran For Armageddon’

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Combat Unit commanders have been accused of telling troops that Donald Trump is anointed by God and the war with Iran is to bring in Armageddon

Well, it’s official, we’ve arrived in Crazy Town, and it’s exactly as you would expect it to be. Operation Epic Fury is revealing itself to be a hastily-arranged and very poorly planned operation that Trump now says could last for many months. And earlier today a religious watchdog group received over 200 complaints from soldiers being told by their Combat Unit commanders that President Trump has been ‘anointed to light the fire in Iran that will bring Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ’. Wow, are we there already? It would seem so, Now don’t shoot the messenger, I don’t make the news, I’m just telling you what’s going on here on Day 2,178 of 15 Days To Flatten The Curve. It’s Christian Nationalism out of control.

“Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.” Daniel 11:39 (KJB)

If even a fraction of these reports are accurate that commanders inside the Department of War are framing geopolitical conflict as the spark that lights Armageddon and preparing troops for the return of Jesus Christ — then we are looking at something profoundly dangerous. Not because prophecy isn’t real, and not because Jesus Christ isn’t coming back. He absolutely is. But because the Church has no business trying to manufacture the Second Coming through military power. Let’s be absolutely clear: the return of Jesus Christ is not triggered by American foreign policy, presidential ambition, or battlefield rhetoric. The prophetic timeline is set by God Almighty, not by generals, politicians, or Christian Nationalist enthusiasm. Armageddon is not something a nation prepares for. It is something God executes on His schedule.

“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Isaiah 40:15 (KJB)

Christian Nationalism, at its core, attempts to merge the mission of the Church with the power of the State. It confuses patriotism with piety and assumes that America plays the central prophetic role in God’s end-times program. It does not. America joins all the other nations of the world to come against Israel. America is not Israel, the United States is not the New Jerusalem, and the United States Constitution, however wonderful we might think it to be, is not Scripture. If Donald Trump has been anointed by God to do anything, at this point, it looks like he might be the one to trigger WWIII.

Trump’s commanders tell troops to prepare for Jesus’ return and issue chilling Armageddon prophecy

FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a non-profit civil rights watchdog, said it has received 110 complaints from troops since the war broke out on Saturday. The complaints span more than 40 different units across 30 military sites, first reported on veteran journalist Jonathan Larsen’s Substack. A non-commissioned officer (NCO) wrote to the MRFF Monday that his combat-unit commander had claimed Trump was ‘anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.’

‘He urged us to tell our troops that this was “all part of God’s divine plan” and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ,’ the NCO said.

The NCO, anonymized by MRFF, said they were writing on behalf of 15 others, including 11 Christians, a Muslim and a Jew. The troops are currently outside the Iran theater but on ‘ready-support’ status, meaning they could be deployed at any time. The NCO said that their commander’s comments ‘destroy morale and unit cohesion and are in violation of the oaths we swore to support the Constitution.’

A White House official denied that commanders were giving orders based on end times scripture, adding that the war had three aims: destroy Iran’s missiles, munitions industry and navy. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The religious tenor at the top of the military is not confined to the battlefield.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a born-again Christian, holds monthly prayer meetings at the Pentagon and attends a weekly Bible study at the White House led by a preacher who argues that God blesses those who support Israel. Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser, Paula White, has made similar claims for decades, urging Christians to ‘stand with Israel’.

Pastor John Hagee, who visited the White House multiple times during Trump’s first term, told his congregation on Sunday that the war with Iran signaled we are nearing the end times. ‘Prophetically, we’re right on cue,’ Hagee said. ‘Sirens are wailing and prophecies written thousands of years ago are stepping onto the world stage.’

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claimed that Trump would receive a message from God shortly before the strikes on Iran in June.

‘I believe you will hear from heaven and that voice is far more important than mine or anyone else’s,’ he wrote to Trump. ‘You did not seek this moment. This moment sought you.’

The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli joint strike on Saturday has plunged the Middle East into crisis. Iranian forces have launched missiles and drones at US embassies and bases across the Middle East, as well as against Israel and America’s Arab allies including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Trump initially said the war would last four to five weeks but has since warned it could go on ‘far longer.’ READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Headline News

As The Death Toll Of America Soldiers Continues To Rise, Ongoing Iranian Missile Attacks Are Posing An Unforeseen And Formidable Challenge To US Military

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The United States is facing increasing risks to its military forces and diplomatic presence in the Middle East as Iran is launching waves of missile and drone attacks across the region that are testing its ability to defend a swath of territory.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine had advised President Trump and top officials that a military campaign against Iran could carry significant risks, in particular the possibility of becoming entangled in a prolonged conflict, Trump brushed that advice off and said it would be an easy win. Now only 5 days into the conflict, it’s looking like Trump should have taken his general’s advice. Estimates have gone from days, to weeks, and now months before Operation Epic Fury might conclude. Are we looking at Gulf War 3? Are we looking at World War 3? Everything is on the table right now.

“Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” Luke 14:31 (KJB)

Pray for the brave men and women of our military, they have been put in harm’s way, and to date 6 soldiers have died in Operation Epic Fury. Iran is putting up much more resistance than Secretary of War Pete Hegseth led us to believe. In fact, the United States government closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Tuesday and ordered nonessential staff in several other countries to evacuate as Iran expanded its retaliatory attacks on U.S. targets in the Gulf region. Worse than that, after last year’s strike on Iran, the Department of War failed to restock its supply of missile interceptors which hover right now at a dangerously low point. It’s looking more and more likely that ground troops will be needed to complete the mission, something that I do not think the American public wants to see. I love our military, and support them 1,000% percent, but they have been put into a highly unfavorable position with the ‘Lethalitymaxxing’ grandstanding nonsense of incompetents like Pete Hegseth and his cosplay war machine warrior ethos marketing. We need real leaders or this thing could go very bad very fast. Now is the time to pray for our leaders, that God would save them and give them His wisdom, and pray for America who just may be drawn into a war that nobody wants on our 250th anniversary.

Iranian Drones and Missiles Challenge Stretched U.S. Forces

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. Central Command said that six servicemembers had been killed in the three-day-old campaign on Monday. The six died in a drone strike on a base in Kuwait, The Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, three American F-15 jets were downed by apparent friendly fire over Kuwait on Monday, in one of the most significant losses of equipment for the U.S. in the operation. Bases that house U.S. forces have also come under attack in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

We have a very finite number of certain munitions,” said Daniel Byman, the director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The other thing is, there’s, there’s a lot to defend.”

The challenge for U.S. forces is handling Iranian attacks across a huge swath of the Middle East while trying to coordinate air defense with local allies. In addition to defending tens of thousands of American troops stationed in the region, the U.S. must also defend dozens of its embassies and other government installations. In the early hours of Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh was struck by drones, sustaining minor damage.

Iran’s stockpiles of short- and medium-range missiles, as well as swarms of explosive Shahed drones and electronic-warfare capabilities, pose a formidable threat to U.S. military bases in the region, said Ravi Chaudhary, a former assistant secretary of the Air Force in charge of installations.

“U.S. installations are going to be tested like never before in this particular conflict,” he said. “Our adversaries have demonstrated the intent and capability to go after our critical infrastructure to disrupt the ability of the United States to project air power.”

That challenge is mounting as Iran is widening its campaign of missile and drone strikes to include infrastructure that pumps much of the world’s oil and gas supply. An Iranian drone attack set fire to an important Saudi oil hub while Iranian strikes forced a halt to production of liquefied natural gas in Qatar, one of the world’s largest exporters. Iranian threats have all but stopped shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint which connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean.

Those facilities are defended by both U.S. and local air defenses that are now facing their most difficult test ever. U.S. commanders in the region oversee coalition air defenses that include local partners, but both have been overwhelmed at times by Iranian missiles and drones in recent days.

The depth of Iran’s stockpiles, which include inexpensive drones that it can produce at scale, point to one area where it could try to outlast the U.S., which is facing a shortage of munitions for its Patriot and Thaad missile defenses. But the U.S. has other challenges in mounting its defense. Before the conflict, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned the White House that a fight with Iran risks American casualties and could deplete munitions needed for future conflicts with adversaries like China. READ MORE

The Trump administration offering evolving rationale for Operation Epic Fury in Iran while the president insists the United States will “easily prevail.”

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

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