Posted on 09/28/2004 9:11:09 AM PDT by antifem
Christian revival in U.S. – can it really happen? 'A Call to Greatness' provides major blueprint for restoring faith of Founders
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 28, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
While many Christian voices are calling urgently for a major national revival, author John Chalfant not only agrees, but has offered up a stunning blueprint to help get the job done.
The United States is losing its greatness, says Chalfant, because Christian clergy have abandoned "the militant, power-filled, full-dimensional" faith of America's founders.
Indeed, in "America: A Call to Greatness," Chalfant asserts Christian citizens have allowed their traditional worldview to become corrupted by what he calls "abandonment clergy."
Many Christian leaders have compromised with a secular worldview that never could have created the Declaration of Independence, Constitution or Bill of Rights, claims Chalfant, a member of the influential Council for National Policy.
Without Christianity, he said, there would be no God-given unalienable right of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The problem America faces, he says, boils down to God's warning in Leviticus 26 that those who forget the creator and reject his commandments will be ruled by their enemies, "they that hate you."
Those words were echoed by William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, when he famously said, "Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."
"We are in a war for our God-given nation and freedoms, and the workers of iniquity are winning," Chalfant says.
But he has not given up hope – far from it – insisting Christians still have at their disposal "the superior, available power and strength to take it all back."
"The hour is late, but the bell has not yet tolled for America," writes Chalfant, whose book offers a major action plan for restoration.
SPONSORED LINKS Mortgage Rates Drop to 6-month Low Lock in the lowest rates of the summer. Get up to 4 free quotes from trusted lenders. Apply now - bad credit OK. www.LowerMyBills.com
Distance Learning Directory - Online Degrees Bachelor, Master and Post-Grad degrees online from accredited colleges and universities. Business, Education, IT, Healthcare, more. Browse by degree or program. Request info and get started today. www.classesusa.com
Christians need to realize, he says, "that they have the primary responsibility for reclaiming our nation's Christian heritage because it is Christianity upon which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were founded."
He points out that while non-Christians in America certainly are not obligated to adopt or convert to the Christian faith, it is "the duty of every American citizen to defend the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian pillars of law and liberty which grant us such freedoms."
"Every citizen who is a beneficiary of America's freedoms, especially the freedom to worship as he or she pleases, or not to worship at all, has a duty to defend the Judeo-Christian pillars and laws of our nation that make such freedom possible," he adds.
"In no sense is this duty a compromise with one's own religious convictions. In America this duty simply guarantees a person's right to worship as he pleases without fear of persecution."
'Author of freedom'
Chalfant says he committed the rest of his life "to the service of Jesus Christ and America's freedoms" after hearing a speech by the political hero of his youth, Richard Arens, staff director of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, who produced a research series on Soviet world expansion.
The Arens speech began, "Two thousand years ago there was One who spoke these words: 'No man can serve two masters," comparing Jesus Christ, the "author of freedom," to Karl Marx, the "destroyer of freedom."
John Chalfant
Chalfant began his new career by organizing and directing the award-winning Delaware "Freedom on the Offense" program, recognized by the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and others.
Over the next three decades, he helped assist and fund the many Christian pro-defense leaders with whom he developed a relationship. Among his projects was a video marketing campaign, "SALT Syndrome," by the American Security Council, which President-elect Ronald Reagan later wrote was a major factor in his election victory.
The founder of a commercial real estate company in Florida, Chalfant also was invited to join the Council for National Policy, a group of influential leaders committed to Christian principles.
The first edition of his book, published with the title "Abandonment Theology: The Clergy and the Decline of American Christianity," was hailed by many state and national lawmakers. It has become a text for political campaigns, Christian and conservative organizations and has earned the endorsement of clergy across denominational lines.
Militant faith
His book presents the "militant Christian faith" of the Founding Fathers "and the godly heritage they gave us, how we have abandoned that faith and commitment and what will be necessary for us to save our country from free-falling into tyranny and slavery."
Abandonment theology, he says, has laid the foundation for the "prevailing posture of non-resistance to overspreading evil."
The widespread retreat from Christian duty has opened the country to atheistic, humanistic, evolutionary and cult-based evils that undermine the founding principles of America and threaten our nation, Chalfant says.
He describes "Abandonment Theology" as:
A faith which deceptively pawns itself off as Christianity by operating in the name of Christ, but which produces fruits destructive to America's God-given freedoms. It comprises what is left today of the militant, power-filled, full-dimensional Christian faith of America's Founders after decades of erosion, watering down and trivializing of God's action mandates by America's Abandonment Clergy. It is a "feel good" theology that patronizes Jesus Christ and thereby gains legitimacy, while at the same time produces disobedience to the commands of God and desertion of Christian duty. Evil's influences
His updated volume addresses contemporary political issues such as national defense, Islamic terrorism, public education and "reparations."
He summarizes areas in which evil has gained influence because of "abandonment clergy" and their followers:
Works: Neutralized the will of many Christians to stand and fight for their liberties by convincing them that "works" are not important.
Government: Inverted the meaning of Romans 13:1-2 to discourage Christian involvement and exercise of their sacred duties in the affairs of government.
Outlawed God in the public schools: Abraham Lincoln agreed with our Founding Fathers that America's future security rested in teaching children the highest biblical and moral principles.
Two-way "wall of separation:" The fabrication of a two-way wall between church and state made it illegal for the church to intrude in the affairs of the state.
Love: Trivializing of the faith by inverting "Love" from an action mandate for obedience to the Commandments to a sentiment primarily of charity and tolerance.
"End-times, last days:" Overuse of eschatology (the study of future events), biblical prophecy and apparent signs of the times generates futility and despair with an attitude of "Why bother?" and an abdication of duty.
Homosexuality: This practice is condemned by God as "abomination" and "unclean" (transmitters for death-dealing diseases such as AIDS). It is "against nature," and is not genetic or an "alternate lifestyle."
Women (wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters) in combat: It is an inversion of the natural role for which God created women and contributes to the destruction of a nation through downgrading and demoralizing its military combat forces.
Abortion: This murder of infants would be expected in the Nazi death camps but not in Christian America, especially not under the banner of the mother's "choice." Her choice should be made before conception when there is only one life involved, not afterward when there are two.
"Peace, peace; when there is no peace:" Years of disarming, neutralizing propaganda takes the fight out of Christians. The claim ignores "fallen human nature" and God's mandates for vigilance by selling the false doctrine of "peace" or "peace in our time" or "peaceful co-existence" (with evil governments) as if peace were nothing more than the absence of battlefield conflict. In response, Chalfant lays out a comprehensive 18-point action plan. But the very first task, he says, is "to go to our knees in prayer and ask God to help us put the shattered pieces of our Christian worldview back together so we can clearly see the whole picture and the positive role that we as individuals can play in the areas of our calling."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Chalfant's powerful new book, "America: A Call to Greatness," is available now from WND's online store! As a valuable added bonus, your purchase of this book also qualifies you to receive – FREE – three power-packed issues of WND's acclaimed print magazine, Whistleblower (a $22.50 value)! Watch for the FREE offer during checkout
I know my family and friends could all use a GREAT REVIVAL to hit our land.
I remember the days.... when we sang,
It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and then all those around will warm up to it's glowing, that's how it is with God's Love, once you've expeienced it, it's fresh like Spring, You want to pass it on.... pass it on. I wish for you my friend this happiness that I've found, that's how it is with God's Love
The Romans cruelty and abolishment of Christianity only made it flourish. The movement now by the ACLU and the hate portion of the far left libs will meet the same demise.
Ah, that little word 'and'.
I think I'll follow my and with 'money' .... no, maybe it should be 'the poor' - or 'the disadvantaged'. Whatever!
I find it ironic that Chalfant was moved by Jesus' statement 'no man can serve two masters' and yet is dedicated to the service of Jesus Christ and anything.
Jesus isn't an American, He's God. The freedom that America offers, great though it may be, and as worth defending as it is, isn't true freedom. If it was, the vast majority living in 'American' freedom wouldn't still be slaves to the real enemy of their souls.
There can be no and attached a to a life committed to the service of Christ.
They are God's servants whether they choose to be or not, He raises them up, He brings them down
There is a difference between serving God and "committing a life to the service of Jesus Christ and America's freedoms".
Jesus didn't address the political/civil bondage the people of Israel suffered under when He came the first time, it wasn't on his radar. Scripture informs me that He shared our humanity in order to "destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
That's the freedom I believe I'm called to spend my life extending to others. The myriad of people who fear the death of "little slices" that satan inflicts on them every day - destroying their lives bit by bit. The word destroy in the passage from Hebrews 2 above means "render ineffective". I want to spend my life of service to Jesus by, in what ever small measure He can use me, rendering the activity of spiritual darkness in the lives of others ineffective
This isn't to say that I'm not to make political judgements and decisions to try to preserve the physical freedoms we enjoy here. They are worth fighting for because they are a better (easier physically, not more righteous)crucible to operate out of than, say, China or Iran.
God has blessed us. He also blessed Israel on the OT. Their call wasn't to protect their blessings. Jesus rebuked them because maintaining the "purity" of their cultural and religious institutions became their god.
If you believe in participating in the political process and fighting for the freedoms we enjoy in America, I am unclear on what the fault is you are finding with the author.
Your first statement led me to believe you see these things as contradictory.
Do you have something against Christians running for political office?
Not at all. I don't, however, believe that revival will come through the reformation of our cultural and political instutions. Those institutions will be changed when the gospel changes men's hearts.
My point is that, because of my own political leanings, I have to be careful not to equate my own conservative views or "American freedoms" or the American way of life as synonomous with God's will.
When Joshua (5:13-14) asked the commander of the army of the Lord "Are you for us or for our enemies" the answer he got was "Neither, but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."
I agree completely with your last post (#9). It is well thought out and articulate.
From what I read in this article, I am not convinced that the author would disagree with you, either.
Two-way "wall of separation:" The fabrication of a two-way wall between church and state made it illegal for the church to intrude in the affairs of the state.
Good. Big govt. backed by the church is just as bad as big govt backed by liberal do gooders.
Do you have a link?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.