Posted on 09/22/2001 10:00:05 AM PDT by BibChr
Christians are unpopular folks today. I mean by that, anyone who takes seriously biblical truth and biblical principles will find himself on the sharp end of angry stares if we dare speak the truth in the midst of today’s national crisis. To what do I refer? America has all of a sudden gotten very religious. There are vigils and candlelight prayer services on every corner. People who hadn’t said “God” except in profanity for years are all of a sudden very pious and reflective. Radio personalities who were focused upon tax cuts or some other political issue on Monday, September 10th are now mulling over the role of “evil” in our world. The past week has turned the landscape upside down in many ways, to be sure. Lest anyone think this new religiosity is a reason for rejoicing for Christians, it most surely is not. Oh yes, we are hearing old Christian hymns being sung. Ostensibly Christian churches were full this past Lord’s day. But there is no such thing as “partial Christianity,” nor is there any such thing as a Christianity that stands side by side with Islam, or Judaism, or Buddhism, and says, “We worship one God under many names.” And surely, there is no Christianity that does not speak of repentance from sin. The new religiosity of America has two basic foundational pillars: there is one God, unknown, but addressable under any variety of religious epithets, who has revealed absolutely nothing of objective value regarding His will regarding worship or human behavior; and second, this God has no wrath; knows nothing of sin or judgment; and hence, any person who dares to say that God would punish a person, or a nation, is a glowing heretic to the new American religiosity. The problem is easily seen: Christians believe, fundamentally, of necessity, that there is one true God. This true God is not Allah. This true God is not Krishna. This true God is not the god of Joseph Smith or Buddha or the Sikhs or the Bahais. Our God went to great lengths to differentiate Himself from all the gods of the peoples and religions that surrounded His ancient people, and that for a purpose He Himself proclaimed: He seeks true worship, worship based upon a knowledge of who He is in reality, based upon His revelation to man. He does not grant to man the freedom to make images of Him, to worship Him in a manner that pleases the creature rather than the Creator. God is particular about His worship. His worship is intimately, vitally connected to truth. Without truth, there is no worship of the Christian God. And the truth revealed by the Christian God in the Scriptures is without question when it comes to the matter of His law, sin, rebellion, punishment, wrath, and judgment. One of the most amazing things to observe is the willingness shown by “evangelicals” to jump right onto the “we shall never utter a word about wrath or sin or punishment” bandwagon. Is the remnant so small that almost no voices will be raised to cry out against this foolishness? To withhold the truth about sin and judgment out of fear of man’s opinions and feelings is to make the cross of Jesus Christ a travesty! There is no cross, there is no sacrifice, where there is no sin, no offense that demands forgiveness be wrought through His perfect sacrifice! The person who refrains from speaking of sin and judgment to “win” a person over is doing so through unfaithfulness to the very gospel itself! And to what has such a person been won over? Where is the gospel when there is no sin to be forgiven at Calvary? But it is right here that the new American religiosity clamps its hands over its ears and refuses to hear. America wants God’s blessing. America wants God to protect us from more horrific visions of airliners flying purposefully, relentlessly into our national monuments. We want God to be near us as we board our aircraft. We want Him to protect us from the horror of thinking about what it was like when the towers collapsed. We want Him to guide our military and allow us to flex our muscle and launch our missiles with impunity. We want a blessing God, a caring God, who simply panders to our wants and whims. This is the “God” of the new American religiosity. But what America does not want is a God who is holy, who is just, and who has revealed His will concerning how we, His creatures, are to live. America is a land soaked in blood. We glory in violence. We are so selfish, so bound in our avarice, fornication, and sexual lust, that we murder our own offspring in the womb (or at birth as in partial-birth infanticide). Our hands are covered in blood, and yet we think lighting a candle and lifting them up while mumbling “God Bless America” is going to bring God’s favor? Listen to the words of God to another nation that likewise was “religious” but refused to hear the word of repentance: “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.” (Isaiah 1:15). Is America so arrogant, so utterly self-absorbed, so diseased by religious liberalism and philosophical subjectivism, that she thinks she can ignore all of history itself and demand from God blessings when she refuses to repent of her evils? Do we really need to be reminded that Planned Parenthood has killed more little children in our land in the week since the attacks than died in the attacks themselves? Are we so blind? Surely the scourge of abortion would be enough to warrant the unleashing of the wrath of God, but there is so much more! We are a nation on a crusade—a crusade to wipe from our history books every vestige of our former religious past. The religion of scientism, with its chief idol in the person of Darwin, has become enshrined in our very governmental policies. There is no creator, we are told, to express His law for us in the first place. We want to banish God and His law from our courtrooms, our schools, our every public institution. If God says it is wrong, we celebrate it. Every form of sexual debauchery is found in the land. The airwaves are filled with programs that exalt fornication and adultery. Major film stars are lauded for the most sinful lifestyles. Homosexuality is not only turned into an acceptable “lifestyle,” it is made a political right, a political force, a test-case for being properly “tolerant.” The list goes on and on and on. The widow and orphan is oppressed, while the nation indulges in every creature comfort, sits back in its luxury, looks about upon the bounty of the land, and says, “Ah, what the labor of my own hands, my own intelligence, my own insight, has accomplished.” Religious liberals may mock our “literalistic” reading of the Bible at this point, preferring to simply label us “fundamentalists” and ignorant, but the fact of the matter is, they know they could never win a scholarly debate on whether the Bible actually teaches that these things are sins which must, inevitably, bring God’s judgment upon a people. They know that is exactly what the Bible teaches. They are just embarrassed by it, and hence seek to suppress that truth. As I said, Christians who believe the Bible are an unpopular lot today. If they speak in accordance with the Word they may well find themselves being called "unpatriotic" and "judgmental.". In fact, given that the new orthodoxy demands of us the confession “Everyone is God’s child” over against such clear biblical teaching as John 1:12 (remember how Christians refused to say “Caesar is lord” and died as a result?), we must be ready to “count the cost” in engaging in formal, cultural “heresy” by speaking the truth. We need to realize: this new American religiosity can take on the same kind of fanatic zeal that kept the hi-jackers’ hands steady all the way to their end. May God grant His people the strength to proclaim loudly God’s demands upon a wicked nation, and may He be pleased to bring repentance and revival in a land where darkness reigns.
I gathered that.I (obviously) believe you are seriously wrong.
Let me try to explain...
In relation to the recent attacks on America I believe the bible gives a very vivid description of reality.
In order to ultimately win the war on terrorism every angle must be looked at.
America is going to respond to those terrorists with military force and pursue those who harbour terrorists.What people seem to be missing is that ultimately they are dealing with an enemy that is now entrenching himself within people...and you can't bomb something like that.This type of enemy feeds and grows on fear.It is evil and it feeds and sustains itself on evil.
When folks talk about making the area a glass parking lot for instance (and there has been tons more said on this site alone)they are showing total disregard for many innocent people including women and children who may well die as a result.It would not be difficult to go back over a few threads from the last few days and come up with the sort of list of posts that Bin Laden himself would gladly hold up to muslims to show them his interpretation of what Americans think of them....and thereby strengthen his position...and that of other terrorists.People need to realize that in many subtle ways they are empowering their enemies with what they are saying.
The apostle Paul understood this well....Romans 12:17 "Repay no one evil for evil..." To bring Bin Laden and all other terrorists to justice is not evil.However...to have any disregard for innocent people's lives is.To totally destroy terrorists operations (if neccesary with war,which inevitably leads to innocent casualties)is not evil.To be gleeful over the fact that many are going to die is.
Many think not repaying evil for evil is a soft touch approach...I rather think it is unemotional and calculating...something you need to be when planning tactics.
Military might can destroy those who use terror as a weapon....but it can't fight terror itself....it isn't a gun or a knife,it isn't a bomb,it isn't chemical reactions or electrical impulses...it is not physically quantifiable...yet it is very real....and it can make economies crash (amongst other things).
Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
I see this reality playing itself out right now...and the bible helps me understand what is going on...and where it is headed...and why it is headed that way.
"Therefore the question which religion is the more realistic one doesn't even arise for me."
I sincerely hope that it does arise for you.
" Religion itself is the problem."
Rather: religion can be the problem.You've probably heard this before but I will add that Christianity is not so much about religion as it is about knowing God personally.I know that many people believe they know God....maybe even Bin Laden as well....but it's not neccesarily what people say they believe that is actually what they do believe.
Matthew 7:20 "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
thank's for your reply and May God bless you.
I know, I read these statements and I absolutely reject these tactics (this "eye for an eye" and "let God sort them out" isn't quite my world). Of course, those who were responsible should be brought to justice but that's not the issue here.
You've probably heard this before but I will add that Christianity is not so much about religion as it is about knowing God personally.
The problem with this is that you can apply it to other religions as well. Others also know their god(s) personally and it is definitely not your god (and there are myriads of deities that were personally known by their worshippers). So what makes you so sure that this god-experience isn't an artifact of your brain?
Concerning the beliefs of bin Laden and the terrorists I am sure they are respectively were genuine. Fanatics are not only convinced of their beliefs (what's quite normal) but they lack doubt - the doubt that they may err. Strong held convictions are prone to turn into blinders and this is often the case with religions (but also secular ideologies) because they claim inerrancy for themselves.
What I meant when I said that religion is the problem was that the concept of religion (with its beliefs in deities, the supernatural, etc.) doesn't make sense to me. To pick a certain religion without being convinced that the concept behind religion is reasonable is doing the second step before the first.
Regards
Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.
[Oscar Wilde]
The fate of American has always been in the hands of God's people and He speaks to us not the unsaved when He saids..
If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face
and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and heal their land. 2 Chr 7:14
This was the Scripture on my calendar for September 11
This is the closest explanation to the truth. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the Muslim faith believe in the same God of the Bible ?
Isn't their Allah and the Christian God of the Bible one and the same ? Except of course Islam does not recognize Jesus being the Son of God. From what I understand, they recognize Jesus as being a good man and a prophet.
They did until Mohammed showed up and declared himself THE prophet. Mohammed wrote the current version of the Koran and he used to have "visions". From historical descriptions, he had epilepsy and had the "visions" during seizures.
Isn't their Allah and the Christian God of the Bible one and the same ? Except of course Islam does not recognize Jesus being the Son of God. From what I understand, they recognize Jesus as being a good man and a prophet.
I've never read The Koran for myself, only heard others quote it. I was told it does mention Jesus as a prophet.
I figured out the Italian problem. It was tricky!
< smug grin >
Dan
You seem to be going around in circles.You are saying basically the same thing you said in #111 to which I answered in #123.I gave you a reason why I believe what I believe,not something based on an experience.You obviously didn't see it that way hence you say the same thing again.I hope you are not arguing on atheist auto-pilot here.
" Concerning the beliefs of bin Laden and the terrorists I am sure they are respectively were genuine. Fanatics are not only convinced of their beliefs (what's quite normal) but they lack doubt - the doubt that they may err. Strong held convictions are prone to turn into blinders and this is often the case with religions (but also secular ideologies) because they claim inerrancy for themselves."
So..."they lack doubt - the doubt they may err" which would make them prone to going right past any rational statements and continue in their dogmatic viewpoint yes?
and "Strong held convictions are prone to turn into blinders and this is often the case with religions (but also secular ideologies)..."
They certainly are and to be honest I think you have just demonstrated that yourself by going straight past my reason and saying the same thing again....ie:"what makes you so sure?"
"What I meant when I said that religion is the problem was that the concept of religion (with its beliefs in deities, the supernatural, etc.) doesn't make sense to me. To pick a certain religion without being convinced that the concept behind religion is reasonable is doing the second step before the first."
You are doing it again friend..."to pick a certain religion without being convinced" is not what I am doing or have done and the fact it has come up three times already in spite of my explainations tells me that you have "Strong held convictions are prone to turn into blinders" more right than you obviously realize.
Do you believe you are immune to this?
thanks for the reply,at the least I will call you friend.
May God bless you and God bless America.
ps thanks Dan! you're a champ!
Sure there is evil here, but we need to fight the good fight to overcome evil, not "take our punishment."
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