Islam, Part of America?

“Islam has always been part of America”, these are the word of our president, the President of the United States, President Obama. The highest office in our land is occupied by someone who seemingly supports Islam, not Christianity. Other concerning quotes from Obama are:  “As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam.”, and “The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam”. These quotes show that the Christian majority of America is no more.

Nowadays, our society does not look to God for guidance, most look to the government. The government today is very politically correct and afraid to offend anyone, except the Christians. Christian symbols like the cross are being taken down in many places including government buildings and property because it "offends" an atheist or a agnostic. However the government does not seem to care about what offends Christians. For example same-sex marriage offends me, and taking down Christian symbols ,like the cross, offends me. The government (particularly Obama) is discriminating against the average Christian and his beliefs.

Hopefully one day political correctness will be dead and politicians will actually speak out about their beliefs and not worry about offending people, because the truth is everyone's religious beliefs will offend or bother someone.

Standing in Sinking Sand

This day and age is not an easy one for true Christians to live in, but... has it ever been easy? There is always persecution for those who truly believe. I believe honest Christianity is under attack, and maybe it's more than usual, but the Christian faith has survived much more than social unpopularity. The early disciples suffered under the tyranny of Nero and the relentless Roman Empire. Even today, Christians are hunted in the Middle East because of their faith. At least we have the privilege of living in our own homes without the threat of secret police knocking down our doors coming to arrest us.
Maybe the American church needs some persecution. Anyone or anything that is popular for too long tends to get an over inflated sense of self and maybe its due time we get a major lesson in humility. We are supposed to be persecuted, aren't we?  I Peter 4: 12-14 says "12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory[a] and of God rests upon you" (biblegateway.com). I think that if the church stands firm on it's foundation in Christ and not back down from persecution, we will weather this storm and come out better than we were before.

To fight or flee, that is the question.

In today's society, events are occurring that conflicts with our faith. Not only this, but the Christian faith is slowly becoming more and more of a minority, as beliefs in atheism among other things is on the rise. As Christians we are posed with this question, do we stand for what we believe and fight? Or do we back down, and let this take over occur. The answer to this question can be found in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, "Be on you guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love." In my opinion, the key in this verse is to do everything in love, because it can be easy to sit on your high horse and preach down to people, but when you show the love of Christ, God can truly be glorified. Glorifying God, should be our main goal as Christians, even amidst the dark times in which we live. In Matthew 10:22 it says, "You will be hated by all for My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end that will be saved." It goes on to say in verse 23, that if we should receive persecution in one place, we should move on to the next, for this will continue until the return of our Savior. So the answer to the question fight or flee, the answer is to definitely stand and fight, but we do so with the love of Christ as our focus.

WAKE UP!

America is slowly running away from God. It has gotten to the point where believers are no longer in the majority. What is the reason for that? It's that Christians are too comfortable

2 Timothy 3:1-5, "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

In these last days, this is expected. We should not be taken aback by Supreme Court decisions or popular culture. We should not freak out and evil in the world. There has always been evil in the world and there always will be. It is nothing new. There was homosexuality is Sodom, Corinth, and America. There will always be homosexuality. Is it right? No. Should we accept it? No. Should we expect it? Of coarse. Most of the times Christians spend their time either not caring about anything outside of themselves of their small group of family and friends or they spend their time complaining about the fact that sin exists.

I don't have time to go as far into this as I would like, but followers of Christ need to WAKE UP. James says to show our faith by our works. If we have faith, then we better be doing something about it. Matt Papa says in his song, "This Changes Everything",

Oh Lord, have I become a man
Too scared to be a child again
Too comfortable with amazing grace
Familiar with the empty grave

Did I miss something, or have I begun to lie
Do I really live, like "Jesus is alive"?

If this is true, this changes everything
If this is real, I've got to tell the world
If He is God, then I've got choice to make
If I believe, then I must follow Him

I believe that most Christians are too comfortable with amazing grace and too familiar with the empty grave. If Christ has really died to save us from our sins, it outta change something about our lives. So it's time to wake up, become uncomfortable, stop complaining about sin, and do something.

ps. I am speaking to myself just as much as I am to any of you.

Only in HIm

Christianity is most definitely under attack in America. In today's society, we see that evangelicals are not the majority as we were before. In the past, there have been hard times that have lead us closer to God. But, there is still a possibility of these hard times to have the opposite effect. As Christians, we should be an example. In trying times, evangelicals are what people look at; they want to see how we respond.  In II Timothy 3:12 it says, "Indeed, all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." He tells us that we will be persecuted and will have trials. It becomes more evident that we are a minority and marginalized. We should draw closer to God and help one another, without straying from our beliefs. We should stand up for what we believe in, and follow God's Word closely.

John 16:33
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

A flower in the desert

Who needs God more? The rich man with his complacent life, or the homeless man struggling on the streets? The truth is, both need God, but the homeless man is more aware of his need. Pain and hardships show people that they are not invincible, that they are not omnipotent, and that they need the One who is. From Christianity's origin, Christ and his followers have been persecuted. In the Roman Empire, Christians were forced to worship in secret lest they be discovered and murdered.
What makes life precious to us? The finite rare time we have to live it. The early Christians realized that the blessing we have received to just believe in Christ, let alone the fact that He died for us, is a rare, precious gift. The persecution they suffered from evil only strengthened their belief in Christ's goodness. In America, Christianity has rarely suffered persecution. Indeed, it has been viewed as a right that cannot be taken away. In some cases, this idea has led to the mistaken idea that Christianity can be left on the back burner, to be called upon when life is tough and to be ignored when life is easy.
If Christianity faced trials again, is that truly altogether terrible? It is when we are tested that we can truly prove the strength of our faith. It is when it is impossible for us to prevail in life that we really see the power of God working in our lives. The hardship and ridicule from the secular world might fall increasingly heavily on the Christian's shoulders, but our belief in God keeps are heads high. The hardships will destroy pride, complacency, and apathy. But hardships can strength a person's faith.
The Jewish people have been attacked, enslaved, and mass murdered through time, by long-dead nations and current ones. Yet the Jewish faith has never failed, and the Jews continue to survive. Which is stronger? A flower in a meadow, or a flower in the desert? The flower in the desert is stronger, because it knows just how precious water is. It knows that it cannot take anything for granted, that it must be thankful for each raindrop. That is what persecution and hardship will do to a religion. They make Christians thankful for each drop of God's grace.
So, if the world turns on Christianity, Christians must hold even closer to God's truth. We can learn to follow in the footsteps of the Jews. And we will know that whatever pain, whatever persecution, whatever ridicule or torture the world can throw at us, Jesus Christ our Savior bore more than we could ever bear or will ever bear on that cross.

Head for the hills or fight on?

We talked at the beginning of the school year about a big change that has happened to America and in particular American evangelicals in the past decade or so. The US has undergone a profound cultural shift, particularly in attitudes to marriage, homosexuality, and gender identity. This shift has been vast and fast-moving.

For decades, evangelicals thought for good reason that they represented the majority of America's population. Surveys showed Americans by huge margins identified as Christians, opposed divorce and gay marriage, and supported marital fidelity. Smaller but significant margins in issues like support of school prayer and disapproval of abortion further solidified evangelicals' sense that we were the Moral Majority, to borrow a popular 80's phrase.

No longer can we tell ourselves this. The Supreme Court decision on gay marriage and the rapid acceptance of it mean that evangelicals are no longer in the majority. Church attendance is dropping in many denominations, and atheism is rising.

These are interesting times. Many Christians express fear for our country, saying "America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." 
Others think that perhaps some time in the wilderness will lead to more religious devotion and less cultural Christianity.

Addressing this uncertainly is Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, who wrote this letter to evangelicals, explaining how to exist and progress as a religious minority. Orthodox Judaism is certainly a minority, but it has thrived in the U.S.

Read his letter. In your blog post, respond to any of the ideas that I raised or that you read about in the letter. Do you think evangelical Christianity in America is under attack? How should Christians respond? What is our purpose, as both Christians and Americans? What can the church do in response to a hostile or indifferent culture? Should we retreat or keep battling?