Are Christians losing their nation?

The Church ignores our nation's cultural death spiral...

The Church ignores legitimate challenges in our increasingly hostile and perverse culture. In listening to dozens of sermons in the past several years, I have heard few mentions of how the Bible might guide us in any current issues facing our nation, our communities or our families. I would think these things would be a high priority.

Sure, believe in Jesus and be saved. But the Bible calls for Christians who already believe to do more than that. Isn't it rather selfish just save ourselves and not influence the culture for good? Sure, we're called names: bigots, haters, narrow minded and -phobes of all kinds. That's the neighborhood we're in. I used to believe the Mission Field was in foreign countries. We have a much more needy field in our own backyards - in our own Churches.

This observation of "issue avoidance" is not limited to my church alone. I have endured numerous sermons in a variety of Christian denominations that all have basically the same fluffy message - "Don't Worry - Be Happy"; the pop culture voice of Dr. Phil in sermon form. Such sermons studiously avoid the more pressing issues of the day that hundreds of Chapters of the Bible address and could engage and guide Christians.

Let’s see. What might the Church address that it seems hell-bent on avoiding?

· Fascists and America-haters who initiate violent attacks against police are termed “the good guys” by most media. Those who promote law and order are called “haters.” That could invoke a number of passages of Scripture as part of a relevant and engaging sermon, e.g. what causes people to begin calling "good", "evil" and "evil", "good?"

· Conservative Christians are being marginalized in the culture. Long-standing moral principles are being scuttled in favor of gross perversions. The Bible gives the reasons and consequences for this trend. The Bible also provides solutions and gives Christians clear guidance on defending the Bible's message and our beliefs. I can think of several dozen verses on this topic. You can probably think of several hundred.

· Our faith can no longer be worked out (implemented) in our professions, whether a photographer, a baker, or any other business that serves the public. Christians are being persecuted in their workplace. Another barrel full of Chapters of the Bible address this form of persecution.

· Our borders are porous. Many in our government, the media, and academia want to keep it that way. They don’t believe in national borders or the idea of “nation”. They prefer a “one-world” arrangement. The leaders of Babel tried that. The Bible has a lot to say about attempts of human "government" replacing our trust in God and attempts to create one-world government in defiance of God.

· Diversity is considered superior to unity when in fact it often leads to conflict, strife, and disorder. Tolerance of any behavior or belief has become the highest value in this culture. But this tolerance has become a one way street when it comes to tolerance of Christians and our beliefs. The Bible is full of lessons on that front.

· Prayer and the principles of Biblical morality have been adjudicated out of our public schools. And parents and teachers wonder why there is so much violence and so little learning in our schools. These principles are now rarely taught even in our Churches. The Bible has volumes to say about this.

· Most national leaders and media are deceiving us by avoiding confirming the evil nature of Islamic doctrine. In many instances Christianity is portrayed as the greater menace. Don’t you think that the Church has a responsibility here, if for no other reason than to save its own reputation?

These are but a sampling of the innumerable situations and events that the Bible addresses but the Church avoids.

Does this require minimizing the preaching of the pure Gospel every Sunday - and especially the need to share our faith? No! The Gospel should certainly constitute a portion of every message.

But I have to ask: Why do so many sermons and teaching opportunities dwell on comparatively mundane personal gratification topics and avoid the larger issues facing our families, communities and nation? Are these broader issues too hard to understand - too "political?" Are they too difficult to explain in a Biblical context to the congregation? If so, that is a problem that needs to be addressed. I don't see these topics a "political." I see these as topics ripe for jumping off into exceedingly compelling, Godly, Biblical teaching.

If asked why Churches are losing members, I’d have to say the biggest reason is failure to address the sinking of our nation’s faith. Instead, we dwell on the deck chairs, the selfish pursuit of “good feelings” instead of the bigger picture of a Godly Kingdom.

Yet there are folks and leaders in the Church that insist on such topics over what they might consider to be excessively “controversial” topics like those listed. Has the leadership of this Church indicated to you that they want to avoid “problem issues” and topics that may “offend?” Is that what seminary teaches? Jesus did not avoid problem issues. Jesus did not avoid “offending.”

“Problem avoidance” is killing the Church.

Why Churches are losing attendance and influence in America...

I understand the importance of the gospel message.

But it is also true that the same thing repeated Sunday after Sunday after Sunday gets a bit redundant, and numbs us to its significance after awhile - it just becomes another ritual. Protestants, inspired by the Reformation, have done away with many of the old Catholic rituals. Yet many protestant churches, the Baptists in particular, have created another weekly ritual as the centerpiece of their Sunday services: The ritual of "repent or die." When Mom repeats for the 947th time that we will shoot our eye out, we get well past ignoring her repetition, no matter how important it may be.

There is a single, agonizingly repetitive, semi-mind-numbing message: Repent and be saved. How many thousand times over the course of years of attendance does that have to occupy the majority portion of a 1 to 2 hour church service.

Doesn't the Bible have a LOT more to teach us about the world, relationships, humanity, politics, economics, culture, education, governance and all the rest than "repent and be saved?"

Just because this message is the number one priority does not mean all the otherr priorities need to be an afterthought.

And the Presbyterians, God bless them. They have academic historians as pastors who spend 90% of their sermons discussing the ancient culture of 2,000 to 3,000 years ago: what they wore, the languages they spoke, how a word is different in Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew and English, their habits, their monetary system, what their dirt was made out of, etc. etc. etc. Yet they RARELY make any direct application to what is going on in the world TODAY. And if they take the rare opportunity to bring anything up to date, they will embrace today's culture which is totally at odds with Biblical morality.

And Lutherans: They are the denomination that have mastered the "two Kingdoms" doctrine: The "spiritual" realm, which they teach is the ONLY business of the Church. And the "secular" realm: the governance of the world, nations, states and cities. They teach that secular areas are taboo for the Church. Sound familiar? No mixing church and state for them. The church has "no business" advising us on how we should be governed relative to God's governance and self-governance.

As I read the Bible, it is all about "governance." God's governance. Self-governance. The relationship between God's governance and the secular governments. Today we have labelled those topics "politics" and declared them "taboo." And comparing the Christian Worldview to other worldviews, like Islamic - we never hear about it because most churches believe that one world view, one religion, is as good as another. They've taken the SUPER TOLERANCE pill. They believe Christianity is ALL ABOUT TOLERANCE. Big mistake.

I confess. My early Christian years were under the influence of D. James Kennedy, former pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale. He was one to weave every issue of modern society into his sermons; and weave every topic of the Bible into everyday life.

Most churches have been ignoring 90% of the messages of the Bible for a long time in America.

And we wonder why churches are losing attendance and why Christianity is losing influence.

Witnessing to Muslims: A reality check that most evangelists won't tell you...

There are numerous Christian-based articles and books written about witnessing to Muslims. Most treat Islam as if it is just another erroneous version of Christianity, like they would treat Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, or Christian Science. Big mistake.

Many evangelists stress the commonalities of Islam and Christianity as if they believe the same god, the same “Jesus”, the same Abraham and the same Old Testament. Another big mistake. Many focus on the love and forgiveness inherent in Christian doctrine. Many propose a form of “friendship evangelism” where the objective is to “friendship” the Muslim into liking and trusting you. “Give your personal testimony” and surprise and engage them into something they’ve never experienced before. Stress “forgiveness” because there is none in Islam.

Some of these suggestions may be helpful, some are totally off base. All of them are subject to the uniqueness of Islam that makes such witness especially challenging, maybe treacherous compared to witnessing to any other group of people. Keep reading HERE.

My evolving views of Christian Churches and their practice of indifference...

The last church I was involved with for several months belonged to a conservative Lutheran denomination. I thought it was "safe" because they taught strictly from the Bible. The pastor was extremely personable and the folks in the congregation were pleasant, if not a bit on the aloof and reserved side of the personality spectrum. The demographic was "elderly" and "upper middle class."

I was involved in a book study that attracted 4 out of a congregation of 200, Bible studies that rehashed ancient history with little relevance to today, and had conversations with many members who had zero interest in how Christianity interacted with the culture. Their focus was inward - I call it "in-reach" versus "out-reach." Food and socializing was the predominant focus. Sermons were rarely relevant to the challenges the church faces from the culture and government and instead painfully rehashed Bible stories that mature adults heard a thousand times.

I ultimately decided this was not the place for me. This was just one more example for me of how even the most conservative Christian churches are in denial of their plight and coming persecution from the secular, anti-Christian forces arraying against them.

Instead of being defiant and aggressive in the face of the coming storm, they remain placid and indifferent. Their behavior is part of the long standing internal Christian battle between prayer and action. How much should we invoke God's intervention compared to our own role in doing God's work within our culture?

At least this conservative church didn't go along with the cultural decline that goes against millennia of morality with regard to the perversions of homosexuality and same sex marriage. That was one consolation. Their "don't offend anybody" attitude was not as pervasive as it has become in most mainline churches.

Unfortunately I chose a denomination that not only believes that the Church has no business trying to influence government, but even avoids prayer for God's intervention. Baptists do a much better job of encouraging both prayer and individual action to influence our rapidly decaying culture. But even that denomination falls short of recognizing the challenges and dangers their churches are up against.

It is difficult to motivate or even find the support of congregations overwhelmingly comprised of people who are consumed by health issues, entertainment, technology and sports and who consider a Church more of a social connection than a deeply meaningful life-giving faith that is worth defending.

Preachers presume people accept concept of "sin."

Preachers preach as if people accept the idea of "sin." Most ignore the extent of cultural denial of the concept. Yet churches preach repentance from sin week after week without their audience accepting the reality of "sin." They may as well be speaking Martian to these people. To most of our culture, the idea of sin is foreign and rejected. Read more about this communication lapse HERE.

Why would a Catholic Bishop block the appearance of a Catholic defender against Islam from speaking before a Catholic men's group? Weird but true. Catholic doctrine has something to with it. You see, Catholic doctrine that gives Muslims first place among the unsaved was plainly articulated via Vatican II in their constitution called Lumen Gentium. Section 16 of that document calls for pandering to Muslims because they are "professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind." The same god, huh. What is being smoked in the Vatican? Therefore Muslims should not be insulted with embarrassing facts about their "religion." The Bishop of Worchester, Mass. cited this Catholic doctrine in his rescission of the Islamic expert's appearance before the Catholic men's group. Read more HERE.

Chick Fil A, Amorality, and Tolerance: The pretend tolerant Chicago left show their true colors by their intolerance of Chick Fil A and traditional moral values. The "new" tolerance shows tolerance to be a higher value than morality. Morality is NOT to be tolerated. Read more HERE.

Communists and Muslims in the US endorse Barack Obama: The Communist endorsement was made last year by the Communist Party USA. And to add insult to injury, the great majority of Muslims in the US prefer Obama as well (no surpirse there, eh?) These are facts we need to be reminded about - and remind others. "So what?" you ask. In the 20th century Communist revolutions and governments were responsible for killing over 90 million souls. Muslims are in the process of committing over 100 acts of terror atrocities per month and have continued this pace over most of the last decade.

NEW: The top 3 world views that pose the greatest threat to Christianity today. Read HERE.

The Islamic influence in America isn't the only thing our churches are ignoring at their own peril. The cultural and political shifts of church-goers and the electorate threaten not only our form of government but religious liberties as well. And the church is silent, continuing to fiddle about tolerance and turning the other cheek while the other 80% of Christian teaching is being ignored and allowed to wither.

Separation of Church and State? Listen to the words of Ronald Reagan on this topic.

Many churches promote the WRONG priorities for our times in their teaching. Most messages do not address the needs we face today. Most of their teachings are akin to admonishing us to say "thank you" to someone in the process of igniting a can of gasoline in our midst.

Read more about this HERE.

Reform or Rebellion?

Whether a paradigm-shifting social action is "reform” or “rebellion” depends on what side you are on – the point of view of the participants.

Reform sounds more civil. Rebellion sounds, well, rebellious.

The first Christian "reform"

We’ve had several mega-event “reform-rebellion” examples throughout history. The ministry of Jesus Christ was, in hindsight, a reform. Its objective was to reform the excessively legalistic attitudes of the Sadducees and Pharisees and their sympathizers by introducing what God intended all along: An attitude of grace and forgiveness for sinners. Some Jews accepted the concept, most did not. To those who accepted, it was reform. For those who rejected, Jesus represented rebellion against the law of the Jews.

The "Reformation": Reform or Rebellion?

The Reformation is another example. Martin Luther and others who promoted reformation in the 1500’s intended to reform the Catholic Church, to force the Church to renounce its corrupt practices and return to the essentials of the faith. The reformation snowballed into a rebellion against the Catholic Church, and became the protestant revolution. Today protestants call it "reformation." Catholics consider it a rebellion against the Church.

Rebellion against the Church

A couple of decades later, another mega-event occurred, this time in England. On the coattails of the Reformation, the Church of England separated from the Catholic Church. This was more of a rebellion than it was a reform in anyone’s book. The elite in England did not appreciate the Catholic Church dictating who could marry or divorce whom. So they jettisoned not just the doctrine of the limitations on marriage, but the entire Catholic Church and reverted to their separate and distinct Church of England. The Episcopal Church in the United States has carried on the tradition of rebellion from Biblical morality and has become one of the more liberal, anything goes, Christian denominations in the world. They continue the form of orthodox Christianity but have killed the substance.

Rebellion against the Nation

Was the US Civil War “reform” or “rebellion?” At the time, that depended on which side you were on. The South saw the north turning the screws on the slavery issue. They may have considered the North rebelling against the South's livelihood and economy. The North saw the south as rebelling against the authority and unity of the nation. Retrospective history labels the North as the reformers and the South as the rebels.

So what should we call the jettisoning of moral standards today? Are those who promote gay marriage, abortion, and legal protections of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender behaviors “reformers” or “rebels?” What is next after this? Promotion of child porn and molestation as "reform?"

Rebellion against God

If they are reformers, what are they reforming back to? What is the wayward behavior they are reforming? Traditional morality? Was there ever a time when overt lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender behaviors were the norm? No! They are reforming behaviors “back” to nothing that has ever existed before. The behaviors they are promoting have never been sanctioned by any religious system or legitimate national government. So no, it is not “reform.”

If they are rebels, what are they rebelling against? Traditional morality. Religious values. Their parents and grandparents. And God. They are rebelling against all things holy and sacred. This is every bit as much a “rebellion” as the Protestant “reformation” turned into, the creation of the Church of England turned into, and the rebellion that fomented the Civil War. Except instead of merely turning back several decades or several centuries of established social, religious, or political norms, this new cultural revolution is erasing multi-millenia of social and religious norms.

I am no prophet, but I would guess that this sort of rebellion against God will not stand. At least I pray not. I will be on God’s side on this one. The consequences of this rebellion will not be pretty.