Posted on 02/03/2013 8:22:42 AM PST by SeekAndFind
've been asked more times than I can remember by secular people and the secular press if Christianity is now, truly...finally...a dying religion.
The scenario plays out a bit like this.
A reporter, after rattling off a steady stream of apocalyptic examples "supported by research," then asks something like: "Given the decline of Christian influence in our society, and around the world, is Christianity on a respirator?"
At this moment, I think they expect me --us -- to jump on the blame bandwagon, and moan on about why Christianity is in danger of being relegated to history's dustbin.
If you're a young leader, as am I, they expect us to unleash a torrent of criticism about what Christians and their standard bearers have done wrong.
The conversation, then, is supposed to take on a "change-or-die" funeral tenor to advance the cultural narrative that the relic of Christianity is on its way out. Our world, it is inferred, is evolving beyond religion -- especially the evangelical kind.
So, you can imagine the wrench it throws into their gears when I declare my fanatical optimism for Christianity's future.
Think about it.
The evidence is everywhere.
Never before have masses of evangelicals and Catholics been more engaged in the public square. The novelty of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority has been multiplied thousand times over, cementing the role of evangelicals and Catholics in every major election since Ronald Reagan. This was especially apparent in 2012 when evangelicals represented 27% of the electorate (the highest ever) with 78% of them voting for a single candidate, a Mormon nonetheless.
Prominent Christians, like Mike Huckabee, have the ability to instantly mobilize millions of Christians in support of causes that matter to them, and the Obama administration's hostility toward religious liberty didn't shove people of faith into obscurity.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
OUTSIDE AMERICA:
In the “global south,” Brazil’s evangelical population has swelled by 30% in the last decade, even faster than its economic boon.
The same is true in the east, where China has become, perhaps unwittingly, an incubator for Christianity.
In Africa, the church even oversees some American congregations who’ve broken off from their liberal denominations. This faith is no mere “white man’s religion” but an indigenous force that influences every facet of African society.
hate to burst this guys bubble, but Huckleberry is not good example of what a good Christian leader is. he is a waffler who cares only for himself.
As for the world, what part of reading the Scriptures do people not understand? It clearly states that we, America are to become less so that the evil entity that brings on the end times can become more.
America’s time is OVER, we are headed down the road of hedonism that Europe took long ago. Mark my word, by the end of this year, the Supreme Court will have legalized same sex marriage in their ruling on the California initiative that defended marriage as we know it. The court will side with the homos, and even stretch the ruling to legalize all sex marriages.
All that is left for America is electing those politician who will best manage our decline.
I’m optimistic because I read the end of the Book. Sorry to ruin the surprise for you all, but the good Guy wins in the end.
However, we are in for a whirl of hurt before He finally wins and takes all us Christians home.
“...by the end of this year, the Supreme Court will have legalized same sex marriage in their ruling on the California initiative that defended marriage as we know it.”
Even if our masters in black robes don’t reverse DOMA or prop. 8, it isn’t too positive in my opinion. Prop 8 only passed by 52% in 2008. CA’s Prop. 22 passed by around 60% in 2000. NC passed one last year by 61% or so, matching what CA did 12 years before, but was hailed as a great victory by some. If you go by the states around NC that passed amendments in the early early-mid 2000’s in the high 70% low 80% ranges, NC lost about 15-20% in a little less than 10 years.
As far as the state is concerned, marriage is simply whatever judges, pols, or 51% of the majority think it is at any one time.
Freegards
Even if America is becoming less Christian, other parts of the world are going in the opposite direction. The Christian community in China is expanding rapidly, and Uganda recently passed extremely harsh laws against homosexuals trying to convert Ugandan kids. In Greece, the Orthodox community shut down a play about ‘gay Jesus’, something they might have ‘tolerated’ a few years ago.
The problem we have, is that we don’t all yet see the situation as ‘us vs. them’. And that has to change. All denominations of Christianity that follow the teachings (not some progressive bastardization of them), should work very closely with each other, seeing the entire left for what they are. An enemy, intent on eventually destroying faith in America. We then have to mobilize as a bloc to defeat them.
In 1980, at the Prayer Breakfast dedicated to the then upcoming election featuring Ronald Reagan, James Dobson said that while he was at prayer one day, he received something he needed to share with all who were present. He said that America would be saved when America’s men stand up and say “We have had enough.”
A reporter, after rattling off a steady stream of apocalyptic examples "supported by research," then asks something like: "Given the decline of Christian influence in our society, and around the world, is Christianity on a respirator?"
Edmund Burke observed of the American colonists, in his 1775 "Speech on Conciliation" before the British Parliament, it was their "spirit of liberty" which distinguished them.
Judge Learned Hand identified that "spirit of liberty" and its Source, as follows:
"'The Spirit of Liberty':"The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but has never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest. And now in that spirit, that spirit of an America which has never been, and which may never be; nay, which never will be except as the conscience and courage of Americans create it; yet in the spirit of that America which lies hidden in some form in the aspirations of us all; in the spirit of that America for which our young men are at this moment fighting and dying; in that spirit of liberty and of America I ask you to rise and with me pledge our faith in the glorious destiny of our beloved country." - P. 190-191, The Spirit of Liberty (1944).
The sacred Rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written as with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power - Alexander Hamilton
Human forces and so-called "progressive" movements which seek to "erase" the ideas of liberty may seem to prevail for a time, but they are destined to failure, for they are rooted in and limited by reliance on "mortal" and coercive impositions of power, not the spirit of liberty.
Notice the word, “men”.
That is why our nation's schools are doing everything possible to emasculate little boys, confuse them about their sexuality, force a GODLESS curriculum into their brains, teach them to accept sexual perversion, and turn them into wimpy and flaccid metrosexuals living in their mom's basements.
Yuri Besmonv called it “demoralization”, and the demoralization continues in TV programing, commercials, and print media.
Liberal/Marxist goal: A nation of hairy boy-men who are incapable of defending themselves, their families, and their nation.
The next step after demoralization is collapse. While we are guaranteed by God that Christianity will survive, He make no such promises for nations.
I would just like to take this time and say, thank God, I am not in control of anything.
So Thanks again, for the up lifting message!
Not being facetious or a smart-a.., really, thanks.
Thanks for this.
One poster’s opinion.
This should give you confort and hope:
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/believing-in-the-global-south-17
Look for more Christian missionaries to come from the global south work with the Lord’s help to bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus back to the west from the lands that western Christianity did many years ago.
Christianity, as practiced by most, is a cultural religion reflecting the standards of popular culture. Most mainline denominations and mega churches practice this kind of faith.
There is always a remnant of believers who practice faith in Christ and His teachings.
Read up on Philip Jenkins, he sees not only growth in the Christian faith in the global south, but I sense from there it will be brought back to America and the west via the Christain missionareis from the global south nations.
“... with 78% of them voting for a single candidate, a Mormon nonetheless”
Hey ... Mormons are just Christians on steroids!
Just because they reject Mainstream Christianities conformity with the Nicene Creed, does not reduce thier belief the that salvation is obtained solely through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer to God the Father.
Just a note by a humble LDS Non-Nicene Christian, with full faith, love and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.
The fight has just begun in America.
The law says otherwise. The law in the United States is very clear that the Common Law definition of marriage is one man and one woman.
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