What's next?
Christianity in America is going down:
All Protestant churches, even the Southern Baptist Convention, are shrinking
Congress is getting serious about investigating fraudulent preachers with deep collection baskets.
Christian Broadcasting has become so dependent on “teaching ministries” that few stations show any depth or integrity in their message.
The present regime is committed to a “pluralism” that welcomes all “faiths” but excludes Christianity at every turn.
The arrest and torture of Christians overseas is of no concern to the US State Dept.
The most sacred “right” in America is no longer the right to worship God, but to abort children.
The Church can no longer expect the slightest support or protection of any kind from the Government,
The Government can no longer expect the slightest support or protection from God.
What does this mean?
1.The money base behind the spread of the shallow, warped, and altogether pagan message which has been set forth as Christianity is shrinking.
2.The Government support (tax-free status, etc.) is apt to shrink or disappear.
3.The volume of the pseudo-faith message is likely to diminish.
4.This means a larger percent of Christian proclamation will come from people who have a real experience from which to speak, with God's glory and the hearer's salvation in view rather than the preacher's glory and the hearer's silver.
5.With Christianity less “cool” the message is likely to return from the present, living-room niceties to a re-examination of the real content of the real Gospel.
The Church is going down. Down where we belong. On our knees, where our strength was, all along.
erosion
ReplyDeleteA related article from a thekingpin68 link.
Good points, Robert.
Thanks, Russ. I'll have to pop over there once I get past the midterm season!
ReplyDeleteYikes, well pop over to mine first...at least I am your link...LOL. All the best with work and I am working away on revisions. I have two new shorts posts that could use a couple smart quips.
ReplyDeleteBut we still have the All seeing Eye hovering over the Dollar's Pyramid , a sign from the Brotherhood that the New Wrold Order will evolve and save us from this chaos. We'll even get through this melon patch we're spending through now.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I try to answer everyone who posts on this blog, but I'll make this an exception
ReplyDeleteYou're funny!
ReplyDeleteWhat's to reexamine? I have my fire insurance. I have professed, been dunked and dried - that's it. Am I supposed to reexamine how I was dipped in the water? Should I check the dipper's credentials. Or is there a suggestion that the cross/resurrection was somehow insufficient and I have to help its work along with my own "works" or my own good deeds?
ReplyDeleteAnon, I'm not sure I follow your meaning. It seems like you're minimising two positions at once. The rhetoric you end with, though, asks a common question.
ReplyDeleteGod saves us by grace, through faith. Faith then is the channel by which this grace is applied. So, what is this "faith?" The Greek word behind "faith" (KJV) is, more properly, faithfulness, as I believe "faith" was understood back in the translators' day. That faith(fulness) comes from God, as a gift. Do you have this faith? Paul says the examine (question) yourself daily. How do you recognise this faith? James says it is evident in your good works and holy lifestyle. Do you have faith? Are you faithful to the Lord in your works and manner of life?
If anyone is in Christ, all things are made new. Does this describe your life? We know we are the sons of God by His Spirit Who lives within us. How do we know if the Spirit is reigning in our lives, but by the fruit of His presence: Love! The fruit of the Spirit is love: joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith(fulness), etc. characterises the life of one who is born of God. Is love for God, the Church, and your neighbor the guiding principle of your life?
If so, in both of the above, then you have the assurance of the Spirit, witnessing with your own spirit, that you are His child, that Heaven is your home- not according to any preacher's say-so, but because of the work of God in and through your life. Because of this you have the hope- the sure expectation- of eternal salvation. Nothing about water temperature, how you held you mouth while getting dipped, but Christ alone, according to His promises, is your salvation, and your salvation, your life, is "hid with Christ in God."
He promised - and of course His prmises are just that. By your words, I understand thatif I haven't been able to turn away from some sin and I am not becoming perfect, then I am probably not one of God's saved. Therefore, these past 40 years have been a farse. I have no hope. I can't be His now, since 40 years have shown I am a vessel fitted for destruction. I was even a Spirit-filled believer/ I guess my sins show I am not His.
ReplyDeleteAnon, if I'm understanding you correctly, what I'm saying is actually about the direct opposite of what you seem to be responding against. God does not, never did and never will expect us to be able turn away from any sin, at least of our own strength or will power. If we even presume to try, are we not expecting to "be made perfect by the flesh (Gal. 3:2,3)." God does expect us to avail ourselves of the grace which He makes available to us. Also in Galatians, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." We still have the lusts, the temptations, to deal with, but by the help of the Holy Spirit we are no longer obligated to go after them.
ReplyDeleteIf we continue following our own lusts "Because we just can't help it" we're blaming God for our own disobedience. He has given us, made available, the grace to live free of sin's entanglements if we will but receive and walk in that grace.
That is why Paul writes in Romans 6, " For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" and, "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Some want to say that being "made righteous" is no more, and cannot be more, than a legal fiction in the courts of Heaven awaiting our glorification. Is there any Scripture that teaches that, or is it merely a fiction in itself to make excuse for sin rather than offering repentance? Romans 8 says the ones who are glorified are the ones who were justified (made, that is, effectually, just, right, and pleasing to God in heart and life). Some would like to say that anyone who has "prayed the prayer" is guaranteed to be glorified, but did Jesus say, ever, "just pray this little prayer, repeat after Me..?" No, but He did say "follow me," and the prayer He did teach us speaks of daily obedience, dependence, and sacrifice. Not, again, by our own strength or virtue, but by daily walking with Him and partaking of His strength through that continuing faith which He Himself gives us.
Does that mean that Christians of any variety are flawless? By no means! We have errors in judgment, we have physical and even emotional weaknesses, such as do not constitute a willful act of rebellion, but growth in Christ involves every aspect of our lives, often including physical and emotional growth and healing.
I have been rebellious over and over and over, sinning in the face of the One Living God, making light of what it cost, the cross of Jesus, to cleanse me of my sins. In fact, I have done it so many times that I wonder if I can truly receive His forgiveness now. According to the Old Testament epitaphs, mine would read ". . . and he did not walk in a way that was pleasing to God."
ReplyDelete