Lying Signs: Miracle tears draw hundreds to church
Venerated Virgin: George Mavros aids his wheelchair-bound mother, Dorothea, 92, as his wife, Elizabeth, kneels before the weeping statue of the Madonna that brought hundreds of people to Our Lady of Lourdes Church yesterday. PICTURE: TREVOR COLLENS
HUNDREDS of people have descended on a Rockingham church to witness a phenomenon that some say is a miracle.
They converged on Our Lady of Lourdes Church yesterday afternoon to see a fibreglass statue of the Virgin Mary, which apparently has been shedding tears of an oil-like substance.
Roads around the church were busy with traffic and a nearby oval was opened up to provide extra carparking.
People started lining up outside the church two hours before it opened to the public at 3.30pm.
...
I'm sure the bishop's findings are correct and that the matter is now at an end. I doubt that in all its history the RCC has ever declared a weeping statue to be an authentic divine miracle (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
The RCC recognises that "miracles" may be, and probably mostly are, either frauds or of satanic origin. Nevertheless, it leaves open the possibility of a real miracle.
The statue's owner seems to have accepted the bishop's findings. It would be most charitable to regard her as genuine, in spite of her use of secularist cliches like "celebrate diversity".
Just thought you'd be interested to know that since this story is almost 2 years old there have been some further events in this particular sorry saga. I live not far from Rockingham and am in no doubt as to the kind of spiritual bondage the average RC is under. The adversary keeps them well distracted from the truth of the Word of God.
The weeping statue now has its own website. The local RC archbishop led an inquiry into the whole thing and made a statement. I have put a link below where you can view the statement if you like.
Personally, the source of the weeping is irrelevant. If one of the people is doing it - it's a fake, and if our adversary is doing it - it's still a fake, as is everything else he tries to sell. What concerns me most about these things is the kinds of statements like the one given by the owner of the statue. You'll find that at the end of the page I've linked to. She is obviously badly misled about the truth of God's Word, and we need to reach out to these people with the true gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation and we need to get busy with it.
Hey Mike, There is only one book that could show us who healed people in the church age. That would be the book of Acts.
The book of Acts mainly follows Paul, so we hear about Paul's healing works.
We don't know about the healings by those who were given the gift of healing per 1 Corinthians 12:28 (below)because Luke did not follow them around and then tell us about it.
Some (according to 1 Corinthians 12)had the ability to perform miracles also, even though they were not apostles.
There were miracles going on at the Galatian churches, I doubt that would exclude healings.
That's my take on the Corinthian verse, but I'll read your reply, see ya
Hi Peter, Thanks for the response. I can't think of anyone besides an apostle who healed in the NT. Can you? Even Paul didn't heal himself or Timothy (use no longer water but a little wine--for medicinal uses) and Trofimus (he left him sick in Miletus.) It seems that even the special sign gifts were being phased out as the canon of Scripture was being completed.
Mike, I don't believe the gifts of healings was necessarily a sign of an apostle, otherwise anyone with the gift could claim to be an apostle.
The Word teaches that the gift of healing is for the church-anyone whom God chooses.
1 Corinthians 12:28: "And God set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles,then gifts of healings, helps, governments..."
There are people in the church, who are not apostles who have these gifts. Those with the gift of healing are differentiated from the apostles, and from teachers, prophets etc.
no problems on my part with divine healing. anyone who has ever been healed has been healed by the Great Physician. However, the problem is in saying that any person today has the gift of divine healing that only Jesus and His apostles had in the NT. The pents/charismatics for the most part are commanding God (with very little success I might add) when they should be saying, "Thy will be done." Not--"my will be done." You would be hard hard pressed to show one true organic healing (burn healed, broken arm healed, etc.,) in any pent/char meeting of today. Those were the signs of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12.) If they can be done by anyone, Paul would have had no reason to mention that they were the signs of an "apostle."
I believe the statue weeps because demons might be able to cause that.
Several years ago a buddhist or hindu temple up the street had a stone idol that would drink or absorb milk.(as you may remember hearing about) It "drank" enough of it that my pastor went there expecting to smell rotten milk. He came back saying "no odor, just demonic work no doubt."
Other issue: There are conservatives who have recieved divine healing, (as you must have heard of or experienced at some point in your Christian walk)is it a big problem if Char/Pents also recieve divine healings?
Hi Chris, I do agree with you. We are to love her in following the second commandment that our Lord Jesus gave to us. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. However, the RCC has gone way overboard in all that. Also the signs and wonders movement (in the majority of cases) places experience OVER Scripture. I see it all the time where the Lord has places us and true salvataion and conversion is very very confused because it doesn't matter what Scripture says; I've experienced this or that. That is what so many people say in Mexico.
Chris, Pentecostals belive in sola scriptura. Ok, they also believe in additional revelations but these are not doctrinal. At least not that I know. Pentecostals also believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone without works. Have you found this doctrice in RC? You should also make distinction between "conservative" or traditional charismatics and various charismatic-like movements and sects of today. I know many people who first read the Scripture while meeting in charismatic groups within the Roman Catholic church just like my self. Then, they started to realize discrepancies between Rome and Bible and lots of them have left romanism for protestant or charismatic assemblies. Last but not least, charismatic does not necessarily mean ecumenical in the sense of the world council of churches. Please, don't get me wrong. I'm aware of the unscriptural traditions in that movement and its potential dangers, therefore I left it some time ago and joined a kind of independent baptist assembly. But let me also disagree with your oversimplified point of view on that movement, we should be more balanced and try to avoid to offend people. Mary worship makes something unproportionally worse than charismatic wonders. Yours in Christ.
Hey Mike, I love Mary of the bible (the mother of Jesus and his brothers) just as I love any other sister or brother. I think she is a wonderful sister. As you say we are not commanded to regard her as anything OTHER than a sister in the Lord, this is where Roman Catholics go astray. But we are not to go to the opposite extreme either - she is a fine sister. But that is all.
The fake statues and false signs are indeed very sad, especially when used to lead simple people astray. But probably little worse than false healing miracles or loonie antics done in a chrasmatic Pente church I guess. No wonder this system fits in with many of the RC churches now - Pentecatholic.
no Lance, the mary of the RCC is not the Mary of the Bible. We don't love Mary, we do love her Son though. Loving Mary is loving an idol. NOWHERE in the Scriptures is anyone commanded to love the mother of the Lord Jesus. Sorry, but you will have to do better with trying to make us feel guilty for not subscribing to false religion.
DM Stannard said "Mary is only a sign post pointing to Jesus"
Please show me that in the bible or withdraw the lie sir! Mary is a signpost alright, pointing people to hell with a false system of religon. The queen of heaven is the mistress of hell. Let nobody decieve you, the Holy spirit testifies of Christ, and Christ brings us to the Father. No mary in the equation!
These kind of stories used to perplex me (weeping statues,stigmata, and suchlike), until i was introduced to a book by B.Warfield entitled "counterfeit miracles". Recommended reading!
Mary crying? Undoubtedly she is, for all who are calling her up from the grave to be co-redemtrix are participating in the same sin of divination as Saul. In 1 Samuel, it doesn't say this can't happen. Quite the contrary, it specifily said that Samuel was called forth. Ane he said this is not right!!!
Mary is only a sign post pointing to Jesus. Mary is like the moon at night, when you see her, even in the darkest hours, you know the sun(Son) is not far away.
COMMENTS | 
