Separating the chaff from the wheat. If they are leaving it then maybe it was just a social club for them in the first place.
In any community there are exactly as many of the Christian elect as God has decreed.
I imagine there are celebrations at the Times and in the White House.
-- John Adams
these leftist are anti-christian, not anti-religion. When muslim numbers are increasing they cry “Allah Akbar”
Very interesting article and perspective. Good post!
I agree with the writer’s opinion. But are the people who remain in the church real Christians, or are the committed Christians in the church being replaced with pew warmers?
Not all Lutherans are bad. Same for Methodists, though the UMC is slouching toward Gomorrah.
Some PCUSA churches, IIRC, are walking away from the denomination. The pro-sodomy move of the official body was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
We must be careful to differentiate the “visible” church—full of wheat and weeds—from the “invisible” church. The “invisible” church is all wheat, and is probably found in every denomination and so-called Christian or “Christian influenced” religion in the world.
Poor church leadership hasn’t helped. Most priests come across as frustrated, failed stand up comedians during the homily.
I don’t blame lots of folks for turning away from such uninspired leadership.
After reading the internals of that survey, I was less disheartened than I was at the outset. The numbers of evangelicals are actually growing in the U.S. Most of the decline in numbers are centered on liberal and “mainline” Christians.
What we’re actually seeing is more of a clarification than an actual decline in the numbers of Christians in the U.S.
Church=poor mans country club
Doesn’t make me happy to type that.
YBPDLN Ping.
It’s best to be about the Father’s business.
JOHN 4:35
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
Who are the true believers... those who’ve confessed their sin and accepted Christ as their savior, those who are persecuted for His name sake? I need no pole to tell me, there just aren’t that many in America... I’d say probably less than 30%.
Who are the true believers... those who’ve confessed their sin and accepted Christ as their savior, those who are persecuted for His name sake? I need no pole to tell me, there just aren’t that many in America... I’d say probably less than 30%.
Megachurches that have to have “contemporary” services and “traditional” services to get a crowd make me barf. For these types of “churches,” it’s all about the money.
IMHO, Rock ‘n Roll has no place in a church service, period.
He misses an important point. The religious do not need to suffer to find their faith, but they do need contrast between their faith and the faithless.
So the real enemy of the faithful is the relativist.
Socialists, liberals and relativists are very talented in taking over and corrupting organizations, including churches. And while this is a death sentence for non-religious organizations and foundations, it is far less so for those of religious faith, for a simple reason.
It is the faith of the people that makes a religion, not a building or an organization or other assets.
An excellent example of this is the Episcopalian and Church of England schism from Anglicanism. Thoroughly corrupted themselves, they sought to drag down all of Anglicanism with them. But not only has the rest of the Anglican church, mostly in Africa, refused to be corrupted, those people of faith within the Episcopal church and the CofE have finally said “enough” and have left those churches to find an uncorrupted version of their faith.
So in effect, it is a double schism. The Episcopalian church and the CofE have abandoned Anglicanism and the faith, so the faithful have abandoned the Episcopalian religion and the CofE.
So formerly Episcopalian churches in the US are becoming “African Missionary” Anglican churches, in the dioceses of African Bishops and Archbishops, even though they are almost entirely white.
And their timing is excellent, as these wealthy churches are flowing desperately needed money to Africa, to build hundreds of churches for black Muslims who have converted to Christianity.
Money not going to corrupted hierarchies in the US, who are very bitter about it.
Yet variations of this is happening to many Christian denominations in the US. The people of faith are keeping their faith, despite the best efforts of villains to co-opt for evil ends.
Thus though there is not suffering as such, there is abundant contrast between the faithful and the faithless.
Evangelicalism, bible churches, non-denominationals and other churches with strong preaching, music and faith fervor are often one’s last stop on the way out of Christianity. Say what you want about Catholicism and many mainline denominations in decline, they do offer (if one will accept) aspects of faith, reason and tradition that in my estimation holds more prospect for keeping the sincere pilgrim after they have been caught.
All these reports lump everything into the “Christian” label. There can be no doubt that people are leaving the Methodist organization and the Episcopal organization in droves. These are the same groups who have accepted and promoted homosexuality — and people left.
Moreover, as pointed out by the OP, there are many dead churches. Churches that hold to some form of godliness, but deny it’s power. They are dead.
A lot of truth in this. Jesus knows what is what.
Some Christians are calling this the “great falling away” but I think that falling away happened in the 60’s when liberation theology - in whole or part - replaced the Bible and Jesus in “mainline” churches and seminaries. This is when Christianity got banned from most of American life in voice. Now it is just showing it’s face and admitting it’s murder of Christianity where it was installed.
Liberation Theology gutted the gospel... as the KGB and Western communists/satanists intended for it to do.
What the author says is true about this: It is easier to convert a non-believer to the true gospel than it is to convert one who considers themselves a Christian, but has been saturated and spun into liberation theology which is anti-Christ.