Healing the Land: Ecumenical, not Evangelical

The level of spiritual illiteracy and ecumenism in Northern Ireland was displayed clearly last month during the Pope's visit to the Republic of Ireland, with it being welcomed across the broad spectrum of Protestantism, including the Presbyterian Moderator and the Evangelical Alliance. That same ecumenical spirit and lack of discernment will be evidenced once again this Saturday at Nutts Corner near Antrim, at a day of prayer organised by Healing the Land. There is no doubt that our land needs prayer, and believers ought to be burdened to pray for a moving of God's Spirit in revival power, however the event organised at Nutts Corner is patently ecumenical, and will deceive many genuine believers who desire to see God work once again, due to the use of evangelical sounding terminology. It is for this reason that we draw attention to it, for it is easy to be misled by that which sounds spiritual, yet has at its heart compromise and apostasy.

Ecumenism is deadly, not just because it compromises the message of the gospel, but also because it eradicates the need to evangelise Roman Catholics. If Roman Catholicism is considered a legitimate form of Christianity, and Roman Catholics are accepted as God's people, then there is no need to bring the gospel to them. Such is the general ignorance of these matters that it is necessary for us to be unambiguous; Roman Catholicism is not Christianity, and Roman Catholics are not saved. For that reason we cannot partner with the Roman Catholic church on any spiritual matter, for 'what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?' A recent post by Healing the Land states that Saturday's event 'is not about any sectarian religious expression that divides' and that they give an invitation 'to all, from whatever background'. No doubt they consider an exclusively Protestant expression of Christianity to be sectarian and divisive; yet we would rather contend that a Protestant religious expression is simply a biblical expression of Christianity, something which Roman Catholicism is not.

The ecumenical nature of Healing the Land is clear for all who are willing to see it. Last year's event was advertised in numerous Roman Catholic parish bulletins, and has been promoted by known ecumenists such as Steve Stockman as well as many others. Likewise it has been endorsed by a number of openly ecumenical organisations such as Transformations Ireland and Divine Healing Ministries, who have made no secret of the fact that they desire to see both Protestant and Catholic united in spiritual endeavour. The ecumenical, anti-protestant nature of Healing the Land is further revealed when we consider portions of the prayer which was offered at the same event last year (click here to read the entire prayer): 

'We ask you to release us from all unhealthy bondages of culture, wrong covenants and the unhelpful mindsets of our history' 

'Our bitter disputes and hard hearts have driven Your Kingdom from us and we have served the idols of national identity and tribal fears' 

These quotes should immediately cause alarm bells to ring in the mind of any who are acquainted with the language of the ecumenical movement. What are the bondages of culture, wrong covenants, unhelpful mindsets of our history, idols of national identity and tribal fears referred to here? It would be easy to dismiss them solely as a reference to political issues, which on occasions have indeed blurred the church's presentation of the gospel, however this is quite evidently the language of ecumenism. The modus operandi of ecumenical 'Protestants' has always been to break down barriers, to minimise doctrinal differences and to be disapproving of any strong identification as Protestant. Indeed the very word Protestant seems to be offensive to many of them. 

The recent history of the island of Ireland is one where Unionism has generally been equated with Protestantism and Nationalism with Roman Catholicism. It was the belief of our forefathers in 1912 that Home Rule would mean Rome Rule which caused them to draw up the Ulster Covenant, 'humbly relying on the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently trusted'. No Protestant, with any understanding of Rome and the subsequent history of Ireland can consider this to be a wrong covenant or unhelpful mindset of our history over which we need to repent. Like the Psalmist David the Protestants of Ulster can say 'If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick'. We do not place our trust in our unionist or British identity, yet it is by the grace of God that we have been preserved in days past from a Roman Catholic and Irish supremacy, for the lesson of history is that where Rome is in power the civil and religious liberties of Protestants are oppressed. Our oppostion to Roman Catholicism is not some tribal fear, but a clear conviction that what is taught by Rome is contrary to the Word of God and an apostate form of Christianity.

Another phrase within the prayer offered last year which ought to be considered is this: 

'Today we speak into existence a new mindset in the heavenly realms over our land' 

Rather than the language of the ecumenical movement, this is the language of the charismatic movement. It is not even that of traditional Pentecostalism, but rather the beliefs of the increasingly popular element of charismaticism found today within the prosperity gospel and Word of Faith movement. It is the belief that we can literally 'speak things into existence' as propagated by the likes of Kenneth Copeland and Joyce Meyer, and which ascribes to man the same creative power which God alone possesses. Although it is true that there are those within Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement who will have nothing with Rome, it is also true that the charismatic movement has provided great momentum to those who seek ecumenical unity with the Roman Catholic church. It was South African Pentecostalist David du Plessis who said that that to be truly charismatic you must be ecumenical and to be truly ecumenical you must be charismatic, and so often the charismatic and ecumenical movements are found to go hand in hand. 

Ulster needs its people to pray for the moving of God's Spirit, as does the whole of the United Kingdom and the island of Ireland. We desperately need the Lord to bless us once again, however that blessing will not come through events such as those organised at Nutts Corner this weekend, for union with error will never bring the blessing of God. The participation of some prominent evangelicals in this compromise does not make the event any more acceptable, but rather it is a sign of how far down the road of error these individuals have gone. We urge all believers to have 'no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them'.