Attending church services extends longevity more than diet or exercise; Pope Francis falsely points to interfaith salvation in this age
Interfaith slogan (Pixabay)
A reader sent me a link to the following:
Attending Church Regularly Will Lengthen Your Life More Than Diet, Exercise, Longevity Expert Says
Attending church services may open the door to eternal life—but it will also extend your life on Earth more than diet or exercise, according to the foremost expert on global longevity.
Dan Buettner, who won three Emmy Awards for his groundbreaking 2023 documentary “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones,” revealed the deep benefits that faith in God renders to those who want to live a long and prosperous life. Although America faces an epidemic of chronic diseases, “only about 20% of how long you live is dictated by your genes,” he told “Mornings with Maria” on Aug. 30. A healthy lifestyle incorporating diet, exercise, and stress management means the average person can live “12 more years in good health.”
But the statistics he shared proved that an active faith in God, including weekly church attendance, had potentially the biggest impact on extending earthly life. …
The healthiest elderly had a common characteristic: “having a faith. We know people who go to church—or temple, or even mosque—and show up four times per month are living four to 14 years longer than people who aren’t.” The figure may come from a study finding regular church attendance lengthened the average American’s life by seven years—and 14 years for African Americans.
That number dwarfed other, more intuitive lifehacks, including regular exercise and diet. “For a 20-year-old, if you move away from the standard American diet towards a Blue Zone diet—which is to say whole food, plant-based—it’s worth about 10 years of extra life expectancy, and for a 60-year-old, it’s still worth about six years,” he said. … you can add three years to your life with exercise, four years by eating beans, six years by being in a committed relationship, six to 10 years by eating a whole foods and plant-based diet, and seven to 14 years by going to church every week. https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/09/10/attending-church-regularly-will-lengthen-your-life-more-than-diet-exercise-longevity-expert-says/
Yes, having faith in God and striving to practice that faith is good for your longevity in general.
In the Continuing Church of God, we have people who attend regularly in person, who watch online services alone, and we have several groups that meet together online in different parts of the world (USA, UK, and NZ) each week (see also Congregations of the Continuing Church of God).
The Apostle Paul wrote:
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
Yes, attending with others personally or in an online group is to have spiritual benefits according to the Apostle Paul.
That said, it should be pointed out that all religions are not the same. And not all lead to salvation in this age.
However, Pope Francis has a different view. A different reader sent me a link to the following:
BREAKING: Pope Francis: ‘Every religion is a way to arrive at God’
September 13, 2024
SINGAPORE (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis today told young people of different faiths that “every religion is a way to arrive at God.”
Addressing an inter-religious meeting of young people in Singapore just before departing for his return flight to Rome, Pope Francis turned to one of the central themes of his pontificate – inter-religious dialogue.
“One of the things that struck me about all of you here is your ability to engage in inter-religious dialogue, and this is very important,” he told the crowd, assembled in Singapore’s Catholic Junior College. …
Continuing, the Pope declared that each religion is a means to attain God, stating:
Every religion is a way to arrive at God. There are different languages to arrive at God, but God is God for all. And how is God God for all? We are all sons and daughters of God. But my god is more important than your god, is that true?
There is only one God and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, they are different paths.
The Pope’s words were warmly welcomed by those present in the hall, which included leaders and representatives of Singapore’s many religious bodies and the large papal retinue. …
“All are obliged to belong to the Catholic Church in order to be saved.” {Baltimore Catechism Q 166.}
This teaching of “Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” (no salvation outside the Church), has been increasingly rejected by modernizing activists in recent years, yet remains valid and unchanging in the Church’s teaching.
Pope Leo XII pronounced it clearly in his 1824 encyclical letter Ubi Primum:
It is impossible for the most true God, who is Truth Itself, the best, the wisest Provider, and the Rewarder of good men, to approve all sects who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent with one another and contradictory, and to confer eternal rewards on their members. For we have a surer word of the prophet, and in writing to you We speak wisdom among the perfect; not the wisdom of this world but the wisdom of God in a mystery.
By it we are taught, and by divine faith we hold one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and that no other name under heaven is given to men except the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth in which we must be saved. This is why we profess that there is no salvation outside the Church.
The Vatican’s 1949 decree from the Holy Office instructed bishops charged with promoting true ecumenism to draw souls to the Church, and that they must always teach the fullness of the Church’s priority: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-pope-francis-every-religion-is-a-way-to-arrive-at-god/
Both of those views are wrong.
The Bible does not teach that one needs to be connected to the Church of Rome to be saved. There is nothing even close to that in the entire Bible.
The Bible also does not teach that all religions bring salvation and lead to the true God.
Jesus said:
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)
Hinduism, Sikhism, etc. are not true and are not the way to reach God.
Contrary to the claims of those who feel that God will save everyone no matter what they believe, the Bible makes it clear that there is only one name that can save as Acts 4:10-12 plainly teaches:
10 let it be known to you all … that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, …11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, etc. do not accept Jesus in the biblical way and hence their faiths are not the way to God.
While God does have a plan of salvation for those not called in this age (see the free online book: Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation), the non-biblical faiths are not the way.
Additionally, the Bible is clear that God does NOT want non-biblical religious practices combined with His ways:
19 What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? *1 Corinthians 10:19-22)
Yes, all world religions (as opposed to the true religion) are flawed. And we are seeing more emphasis on interfaith cooperation around the world–and Pope Francis is a leading proponent.
The religious should realize that the Bible opposes the interfaith agenda:
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:“I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”17 Therefore“Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)
Real Christians are NOT to support the interfaith plans. It is leading to the rise of the end time daughter of Babylon (Jeremiah 50:42, 51:33; Zechariah 2:7) which will one day fall:
2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” (Revelation 18:2-3)
The Bible itself warns against a coming ecumenical unity–Satan the devil’s unity–which it teaches will be successful as far as many in the world are concerned:
4 They prostrated themselves in front of the dragon because he had given the beast his authority; and they prostrated themselves in front of the beast, saying, ‘Who can compare with the beast? Who can fight against it?’ 5 The beast was allowed to mouth its boasts and blasphemies and to be active for forty-two months; 6 and it mouthed its blasphemies against God, against his name, his heavenly Tent and all those who are sheltered there. 7 It was allowed to make war against the saints and conquer them, and given power over every race, people, language and nation; 8 and all people of the world will worship it, that is, everybody whose name has not been written down since the foundation of the world in the sacrificial Lamb’s book of life. 9 Let anyone who can hear, listen: 10 Those for captivity to captivity; those for death by the sword to death by the sword. This is why the saints must have perseverance and faith. (Revelation 13:4-10, NJB)
The ‘dragon’ listed above is Satan, the devil (cf. Revelation 12:9, 20:2). Here is something from the late Herbert W. Armstrong on the coming worship:
Notice a Bible definition of worship in Rev. 13:4 “how men worship the “beast” — the Roman Empire — by saying, “Who is like unto the Roman Empire? Who is able to make war with it?” Such words constitute worship — “and they worshipped the beast.” (Armstrong HW. The Mystery of MELCHIZEDEK Solved!. Plain Truth, June 1956)
While church attendance can lead to better longevity, the interfaith agenda is moving the planet closer to disaster.
Pope Francis has been helping to lay the foundation for the rise of the final Antichrist.
Some items of related interest may include:
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century This is a free online book which helps show where biblical and Islamic prophecies converge and diverge. Here are links to related sermons: Seeing Christianity Through Islamic Eyes, Imam Mahdi, women, and prophecy, and Terrorism, Iran, and Fatima, Dajjal, Antichrist, Gold, & Mark of the Beast?, and Jesus and God’s Plan for Muslims.
Seeing Christianity Through Islamic Eyes This article has information from the book, Islamic and Biblical Prophecies for the 21st Century, as well as from the old WCG and other sources. Here is a link to a related sermon: Seeing Christianity Through Islamic Eyes. Here is a related sermon in the Spanish language: El cristianismo visto a través de los ojos islámicos.
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet.” Plus it shows that several Roman Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy. You can also watch a video titled What Does the Bible teach about the Antichrist?
The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Amazon Book What does the Bible say about a pope near this time? Is the final pope to be an antipope and antichrist? Does Catholic prophecy point to Pope Francis as being the dreaded “Peter the Roman”? This 186 page book provides information and answers.
The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Kindle This electronic version of the printed book which is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to The Last Pope: Do Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Point to Pope Francis? Kindle.
Christian Health Matters Should Christians be concerned about their health? Does the Bible give any food and health guidelines? Here are links to three related sermons: Let’s Talk About Food, Evil is Affecting the Food Supply, and Let’s Talk About Health.
Congregations of the Continuing Church of God This is a listing of congregations and groups of the Continuing Church of God around the world.
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