Wings of Liberty • March 7, 2025

Don’t Relent! Ash Wednesday, And the Image to the Beast

Bible prophecy warns us to expect powerful religious forces to hijack the American government and endorse and enforce a Roman Catholic institution as a condition of buying and selling.i


This website has spoken (here, here, here and here) of the repeated papal and false Protestant efforts to seize control of civil power in the United States and reunite church and state. As Delilah the harlot sought to discover and eliminate the secret of Samson’s power, so the Papal harlot has unceasingly sought to find and eliminate the source of America’s power, and bring it to its knees.


As Delilah sensed the moment of her triumph had come, the Papacy surely senses that the fall of the mighty is near. On behalf of apostate Protestantism, the harlot’s daughters, the New Apostolic Reformation believes in the subordination of the state to the church, and counts a number of prominent politicians and advisors in Washington D.C. as its followers.ii Catholic Integralism also maintains the church must control the state, and counts the Vice President as its follower,iii as well as multiple Cabinet members from the Opus Dei-influenced Heritage Foundation.iv Catholicism and apostate Protestantism, therefore, are in a position to exert substantial control over government, in effect uniting church and state in fulfilment of Bible prophecy.


In another harbinger of the proximity of the crisis, on Wednesday, March 5, the White House held a Catholic mass on its grounds and issued a statement in celebration of the commencement of the Catholic festival of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The statement of the President and First Lady reads as follows:


 This Ash Wednesday, we join in prayer with the tens of millions of American Catholics and other Christians beginning the holy season of Lent—a time of spiritual anticipation of the passion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.


During the Lenten season, Christians spend 40 days and 40 nights praying, fasting, and giving alms to deepen our faith and strengthen our belief in the Gospel. Today, followers of Christ wear crosses of ash on their foreheads—a sacred reminder of our mortality and our enduring need for Christ’s infinite mercy and redeeming love.


As we solemnly contemplate Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the cross this Lent, let us prepare our souls for the coming glory of the Easter miracle.


We offer you our best wishes for a prayerful and enriching Lenten season. May Almighty God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America.v


The White House should not be hosting Catholic mass on government grounds. The White House is a government building, and it ought to be a neutral religious space, not a place to endorse the practices of any one religion, or denomination. So why are the President, the head of the Executive Branch, and the First Lady, issuing a statement on a government website with respect to Lent at all?


Donald Trump and his wife Melania can celebrate Lent if they want, but they ought not to misuse the enormous power of the US government to encourage or endorse religious practices to Americans. The Bible says, “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.”vi

The point is that government leaders are welcome to observe Lent if they wish in their own personal lives, but they are out of their sphere of authority to use their influence to normalize Lent or any other religious observance.

The White House statement then claims that Lent is a Christian practice, but is Lent biblical? Does the Bible talk about moping around with the sign of the cross drawn with ashes on your forehead?


The Bible answer is a resounding ‘No’. Lent is not a biblical precept or festival any more than Sunday is the biblical Sabbath. Both are Roman Catholic traditions devoid of Scriptural origin.


With respect to Sunday observance, Rome boasts of its change of the Sabbath, even issuing an unanswerable challenge to Protestants who bow in homage to her authority in honoring Sunday. We invite you to read “Rome’s Challenge” if you have never done so.vii


Similarly, Lent is a Roman Catholic tradition. It is a merits-based exercise from start to finish devoid of the righteousness of Christ. The Reformer John Calvin called it “superstitious” and “wrongheaded zeal.”viii The Reformer Ulrich Zwingli declared the observance of Lent incongruous with the Christian gospel in a sermon on April 16, 1522.ix We would add that Lent is precisely the kind of public virtue signalling the Bible condemnsx and right-wing conservatives dislike about their left-wing opponents. Think of it as the Catholic version of painting a rainbow on your face.


Key Points of the White House Statement


The endorsement and promotion of Lent by the White House is a violation of the spirit of the separation of church and state. It is a formal commendation by the civil power of the US government of a Roman Catholic religious festival.


Consider the following.


  1. The Executive Branch of the US government has no business declaring its favor, participation in, or endorsement of a certain religion’s festivals


The White House in its statement on the official government website refers to "the holy season of Lent". As discussed, there is nothing in the Holy Bible about Lent being a holy season. God never said anything about Lent at all, it is wholly an ordination of the Man of Sin. But apart from this, the Executive Branch of government should not be declaring festivals or feast days to be holy or unholy. That is not the proper role of any earthly government.


When God delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses, they were written on two tables, thus evidencing the difference between humanity’s obligations to God, and humanity’s obligations to their fellow humanity. Christ declared in immortal words the principle of the separation of church and state when He stated, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”xi


God is holy, and it is for the Lord to declare what is holy and what is not. Caesar is not holy, and has nothing to do with saying what is or is not holy. Any attempt to declare that something is holy when God has not said that it is holy is an intrusion on the exclusive territory of the Deity.


2. The White House states that, During the Lenten season, “Christians spend 40 days and 40 nights praying”, and "Today, followers of Christ wear crosses of ash on their foreheads."


It is not for the American government to declare what the followers of Christ do or do not do. This ill-conceived statement underscores the pitfalls of government wading into the religious realm to declare what is orthodox.

First, and strictly factually speaking, it is the followers of the Papacy, and Pope Gregory specifically, who put ashes on their foreheads,xii it is not done pursuant to any decree of Christ. According to the Catholic Church, “the use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance.”xiii Canonical penance is a form of works-based righteousness by which Catholics believe they accrue or accumulate personal merit to gain standing with God. Penance in Catholicism was declared by the Council of Trentxiv to be “at all times necessary for the remission of grievous sin.”xv The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the person who sins “must repent and as far as possible make reparation to Divine justice.”xvi


But the Bible teaches that Christ has made reparation for humanity. He died “once for all”,xvii and that the “Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”xviii No additional reparations (works) can be added to the completed work of Christ in taking the sins of the world upon Himself. The Apostle Paul states, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”xix


3. The White House claims the penance of Lent “deepens our faith and strengthens our belief in the Gospel”


Is this true? No, it is not. Works based righteousness, i.e. wearing ashes on one’s forehead to make reparations for sin, undermine and repudiate faith in the Gospel. They do not strengthen faith in the Gospel at all! Such acts of penance declare that a person places merit on their own acts of contrition, their own works, to commend themselves to God, and disbelieve the sufficiency of Christ’s payment for the sins of the world.xx


4. Jesus Christ never wore ashes on His forehead, nor did He command His followers to do any such thing, nor is there any example of any of His apostles doing this


On what basis does the White House presume to declare that the followers of Christ do this?

Do the mournful people following the Papacy’s Lent realize that Jesus specifically taught His followers not to fast in this way? The Lord declared, “When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”xxi

Christ said the reward of the people with ashes prominently displayed on their foreheads is the notice of men, not the commendation of God.


5. The White House states that we should "... prepare our souls for the coming glory of the Easter miracle" by fasting for Lent.


Should a neutral state on a government website be making this statement? Is it the place of the Executive Branch to offer spiritual advice to Americans? Why is the U.S. government promoting the Papal teaching that penance and fasting is required to prepare for Easter?


Promoting papal teachings on Lent is a definite step toward promoting Papal teaching on the sacredness of Sunday. Since the White House has already declared that the Papal practice of Lent is “holy”, is it not reasonably foreseeable that the White House will one day declare that the Papal teaching of Sunday is also holy, and is the day that Christians rest from their labors?


CONCLUSION

The Bible teaches that religious forces will cause America to make an image to the Papal power, and enforce observance of the mark of Papal authority – the change of the fourth commandment to solemnize dia solis, the Day of the Sun – Sunday.


Revelation 13 states that the Lamb-like Beast will cause everyone “to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.”xxii Given the certainty of the prophetic warnings in Revelation 13, the White House’s endorsement of Papal ashes on the foreheads of Americans is uncomfortable foreshadowing.

Lent has its origins in paganism and Babylonian myth. The word "Lent" comes from the Old English word for Spring, "Lencten". To read about the pagan origins of Lent, and the 40 day weeping for Tammuz referred to in Ezekiel 8:13, 14,..... click here.

_______________________





i Revelation 13: 11-18


ii https://forward.com/culture/672745/christian-nationalist-guide-influence-trump-election/; NAR Apostle Paula White is the Senior Advisor of the newly created White House Faith Office.


iii https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/j-d-vance-and-the-rise-of-the-postliberal-catholics.html


iv https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/kevin-roberts-project-2025-opus-dei


v https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/03/the-president-and-first-ladys-message-on-ash-wednesday-2025/


vi Romans 14 :22


vii https://www.romeschallenge.com/


viii https://heidelblog.net/2013/02/calvin-on-lent/


ix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_of_the_Sausages#:~:text=The%20Affair%20of%20the%20Sausages%20(1522)%20was,God%2C%20Huldrych%20Zwingli%27s%20Reformation%20took%20its%20start.%22


x Isaiah 58:4, 5 “Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?”.


xi Mark 12:17


xii https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent/ash-wednesday.html?

srsltid=AfmBOopiIDBGnYFGsJhchQ4xtGbzxfWFN-JckjKMQbIAu_fMH_IUkgo-

 

xiii https://www.ncregister.com/blog/9-things-to-know-and-share-about-ash-wednesday-oeeorfvu - penance is a Catholic concept of works-based merit to earn standing with God.

 

xiv (Sess. XIV, c.i)


xv https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618b.htm


xvi https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618b.htm


xvii Hebrews 10:10


xviii Isaiah 53:6


xix Romans 4:4,5


xx 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Colosians 1:20, 21 For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled.


xxi Matthew 6:16


xxii Revelation 13:16

Charlie Kirk

By Wings of Liberty • September 12, 2025
The world has lost a giant, and his name was Charlie Kirk. We live in a world of silent cowardice. There are cities in America today where a woman can be raped on the subway in broad daylight and bystanders will say nothing. It is a world where selfishness and iniquity have caused the hearts of many to grow cold, as the Bible warns in Matthew 24:12. It is a world where wickedness unobjected to has strangled principled discourse. People have stifled the voice of conviction in their personal lives for so long that it has subdued independence and courage in the public square. Put simply: people who are cowards in their personal lives will be cowards in their public lives. Under the best of circumstances in such a world, it would be difficult for anyone to stand up in the public square and voice their opinion, even if that opinion is a majoritarian position. But it takes supreme courage to enter public territory where one holds a minority opinion and engage in public dialogue with those who hate everything you stand for. When Charlie Kirk went to a public university to speak on the Bible, the sanctity of life and marriage, or how it is impossible for men to become women, he was entering territory where he knew his opinions were hated and would be misrepresented. He knew he was going to be threatened and vilified. He knew there was a risk to his life. But he went anyway. Whether you agreed with him or not, liked him or not, whether he was right about everything or not, it is necessary to somberly consider and lament the killing of such a man. We mourn the loss of rare species of animals and insects, flora and fauna. Billions are poured into the fight to save threatened animals. But the rarest of all things in this wicked, cold-hearted world is the principled and courageous human being. The silencing of a principled man, killed for the express purpose of censoring his voice, is a tragedy of infinitely greater magnitude than this foolish, dissipated generation realizes. We live in a world where closeted podcasters voice their opinions from the comfort of their living rooms. Most have never faced a big crowd, let alone a big hostile crowd. Let’s face it. Some of the most brazen and cocky online personalities who bark the loudest from their private apartment cocoons would soil themselves at the prospect of standing at a microphone surrounded by hundreds or thousands of actual people. Especially real hostile people. But Charlie Kirk was not only courageous, he respectfully dialogued with the people who screamed at him, insulted him, and hated him. In a world of polarization and cancel culture, and naked, open hostility, Charlie was measured and polite. A perverse generation of leftist students celebrates the loss of Charlie Kirk. They bask in it. They do not realize that they are rejoicing in the loss of that rarest of blessings: someone who cared enough to come speak to them despite their hostility. And who will go now? The ultimate censorship is murder. Cain killed Abel to silence his conscientious and courageous, principled speech. The Bible records the deaths and persecution of the prophets, every one of them censored and punished for speaking the truth. Isaiah sawn in two, Jeremiah thrown into the pit, Elijah hunted by wicked Jezebel. The apostles faired no better. Peter crucified, James killed with the sword, Stephen stoned, Paul beheaded. The blood of righteous Abel cried unto the Lord from the ground, and “he, being dead, yet speaketh” – Hebrews 11:4. Does the blood of Charlie Kirk cry less loudly? It takes courage to speak in the face of hostile crowds, but it is not only courage which drives a person to take such a risk. It takes conviction. A love of the truth. And yes, a love of people. The world has lost a giant. And it is right to mourn the passing of such a man. … On December 9, 2025, Charlie Kirk’s last minority opinion will be published posthumously. The book is on a subject he felt to be infinitely more important than mere politics. It is on the subject of the ancient and forgotten seventh-day Sabbath of the Bible, and is titled, “Stop in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life”. A Christian world which has embraced the papal falsehood of Sunday sacredness will soon hear the thoughts of a martyr on the sacredness of the seventh day of the fourth commandment. These are doubtless words that the conservative right, and proponents of Project 2025 need to hear. These are words which the left, who have rejected Creator God and Redeemer need to hear. It is another sign of the times.

THE CURSE OF CHURCH AND STATE, PART 3: LIBERTY THREATENED

By Wings of Liberty • August 14, 2025
THE CURSE OF CHURCH AND STATE, PART 3: LIBERTY THREATENED Nearly a hundred and forty years ago there was a major national initiative to unite church and state in America and impose what was claimed to be Christianity on society. The push united representatives from at least eleven denominations, and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. After a severe struggle the movement failed. i Today, America is facing another similar crisis. … THE HISTORICAL PUSH FOR CHURCH AND STATE UNION IN AMERICA In the late 1800s, the National Reform Association (NRA) ii achieved country-wide political momentum for its initiative for a religious amendment to the Constitution to make the United States a Christian state. Its proposed amendment was worded as follows: "We the people" would acknowledge "Almighty God as the source of all authority and power in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Ruler among nations, His revealed will as the supreme law of the land, in order to constitute a Christian government..." iii The stated purpose of the NRA was to unite church and state. It’s organizational constitution contained the following purpose: To secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will declare the nation's allegiance to Jesus Christ, and its acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian religion, and so indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land. iv The practical result of the proposed constitutional amendment was stated in the Christian Statesman, the flagship publication of the NRA, on February 21, 1884. Writer Rev. J. C. K. Milligan asked the question, “How is the Amendment to be carried out practically?viii In answer he stated: “In brief, its adoption will at once make the morality of the ten commandments to be the supreme law of the land, and anything in the State constitutions and laws that is contrary to them will become unconstitutional. v Another proponent of the NRA, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D., stated the following in a speech at the New York National Reform Convention: We want State and religion—and we are going to have it. It shall be that so far as the affairs of State require religion, it shall be revealed religion, the religion of Jesus Christ. The Christian oath and Christian morality shall have in this land ‘an undeniable legal basis.’ We use the word religion in its proper sense, as meaning a man’s personal relation of faith and obedience to God. vi Those who opposed the religious amendment to the Constitution were declared to be “infidels” and “lunatics”, and Jews, deists, Seventh-day Baptists, and all others, including Seventh-day Adventists, were classed with the atheists, and pronounced as ‘atheists’ themselves by Mr. Edwards: These all are, for the occasion, and so far as our Amendment is concerned, one class… They must be counted together.... they must be treated as [atheists], for this question, one party. Now look at it—look at the controversy. The question is not between opinions that differ, but opinions that are opposite, that are contradictory, that mutually exclude each other. It is between Christianity and infidelity. It is between theism and atheism, between the acknowledgment of a God and the denial that there is any God… They “are conjoined with the other members of this class by the accident of differing with the mass of Christians upon the question of what precise day of the week shall be observed… vii After stating that those who opposed the NRA religious amendment were only a “minority”, Mr. Edwards proceeded to describe the unfitness of such people for “advanced” societal participation: “I would tolerate him [the atheist, including Jews, deists, Seventh-day Baptists, etc] as I would a conspirator. The atheist is a dangerous man.... But he shall be tolerated. He may live, and go free, hold his lands, and enjoy his home; he may even vote; but for any higher, more advanced citizenship, he is, as I hold, utterly disqualified. viii The NRA ultimately failed in its initiative to have a national Sunday law passed and the push to unite church and state sullenly subsided for a time. Today, however, a resurgent coalition of parties, Protestant and Catholic, has largely already succeeded where the NRA failed. Christian Dominionism, including the Heritage Foundation/Project 2025, and adherents to the New Apostolic Reformation, have seized political power and are altering government to implement religious policy and goals, as Revelation 13 foretells. We believe this union of church and state represents the image to the beast recorded by John in Revelation: Revelation 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. ix EXAMPLES OF CHURCH/STATE UNION TODAY There is no shortage of examples to evidence that religious power is influencing, or outright controlling in some instances, the state. For example, Christian dispensationalism controls foreign policy in the Middle East, as Senator Ted Cruz recently admitted in an interview with Tucker Carlson. Ecumenical Christianity is convinced that whoever blesses the nation of Israel will be blessed, and whoever curses it will be cursed.

Earthquakes and Tsunamis: Signs of the Second Coming of Christ

By Wings of Liberty • July 30, 2025
The largest earthquake to hit the planet in 14 years struck off the coast of Russia on July 29, 2025. The monster 8.8 magnitude quake triggered global tsunami warnings, including officials urging the evacuation of the Hawaii islands coastline. Sirens blare. Anxious millions watch the internet for news updates, concerned for themselves and the safety of their loved ones. People watch and wonder. Floods and storms and earthquakes. War and disease and famine. What do these things mean? It is all a fulfilment of Bible prophecy. Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus warned humanity of the signs of the end of the world, culminating in His return to this planet to raise the dead and rescue His faithful believers - 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, and the destruction of the wicked – Matthew 13:30. We should expect to hear of “wars and rumors of wars” – Mathew 24:6, and to see “pestilences and famine” – Matthew 24:7. The Lord specifically referred to earthquakes and the roaring of the waves. Christ warned: And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21:25-28 The signs of the times are everywhere, friend. While officials can tell you to evacuate the coastline, and news agencies can inform you of the devastation which took place from this or that natural disaster, the explanation and deeper meaning of the increasing agitation and unrest in our world is found only in the Bible. These are the signs of the approaching Creator and Redeemer. Are you ready? Today is the day of salvation - 2 Corinthians 6:2, the door of mercy is still open. Christ is ministering in the courts in heaven on ehalf of humanity. But when he returns to this earth it will already be too late for repentance. The work of intercession will be finished and the door of mercy closed. Today is the day to seek the Lord while He may be found!. It is not safe to trifle with the call of mercy.